Be My Dance Date?
by The Last Letter
Summary: When they were thirteen, Taylor helped Jude ask Connor to the seventh grade semi-formal and announce their relationship to the world. When they were eighteen, Taylor helped Connor ask Jude to prom. Now, at twenty-six, Taylor faces her greatest challenge yet: helping Jude plot against Connor while simultaneously helping Connor plot against Jude.
1. Be My Dance Date?

"How's your foot feel?" Jude asked, glancing at Connor's leg.

The other boy stretched his foot out in front of him, rolling his ankle around. He answered, "It's weird. I'm so used to having to baby it that I don't quite believe that I'm allowed to walk on it again."

"Well, at least now you don't expect me to take care of you," Jude sniffed.

Connor nudged his shoulder against Jude's, laughing. "Hey! As my boyfriend, you're expected to cater to my every whim!"

"Shh!" Jude said quickly. "Not at school, Connor. You know that."

Worriedly, he glanced over the back of the bench to the schoolyard behind them. He could see many of their classmates milling around, taking advantage of the freedom that their lunch period offered. It didn't look like any of their classmates had heard what Connor had said, though Jude was still concerned.

"I know," Connor said, although he had stopped looking at Jude and was staring toward the horizon instead.

Jude watched his boyfriend's profile, just thinking. To him, it made perfect sense to keep their relationship a secret at school. Both he and Connor knew what the bullies could be like and how their peers could judge relationships. Jude didn't want to have their relationship under a microscope. He liked having their relationship just be between he and Connor and he liked having Connor all too himself; and, since Jude wasn't comfortable with a lot of PDA, he didn't think they would act any differently in school even if people knew they were a couple.

"We talked about it," Jude reminded him. They had talked about it a lot since they officially became boyfriends. Jude knew that Connor didn't care if people knew. In fact, Connor wanted people to know. Connor wanted to be able to casually tuck his hand into Jude's, like he once had with Daria. He wanted to kiss Jude when he saw him in the morning and kiss him when they headed home after school, no matter who was standing in the school yard to judge.

"Do you remember," Connor said quietly, "when my dad didn't think we should be friends and you said that you didn't want to be a secret?"

Jude nodded.

"That's how I feel right now, Jude." Connor looked at him. "I'm not ashamed of who I am or who I'm with –"

"It's not that I'm _ashamed_ –"

"– but the way you're acting is making me feel like I should be." Connor double checked that there was no one around and then he gently laid his fingers over Jude's. "I really like you, you know that. I definitely don't want to break up with you or anything like it. But I don't want to be _your_ secret, Jude."

"I'm not ready," Jude protested feebly.

"I don't want to push you, either." Connor frowned, looking upset. "I want us to both be happy, but I don't want to pretend I'm happier than I am. I want to be able to call you my boyfriend and be with you in public like everyone else gets to be with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Now that Dad's come as close to terms with me being gay as I think he will, I want to be out."

"If you come out, even if we don't say we're dating, everyone will assume we are. You know what they all think of me."

"They don't matter!" Connor cried.

"I'm scared," Jude whispered.

"I'm sorry, but I want you to think more about it, at least?"

Jude nodded eagerly. That, he could do.

"Connor! Jude!"

Connor's hand snapped away from Jude's at Jordan's voice. The newcomer leant against the back of the bench, looking down at the two seated teenagers. "You're being antisocial today."

Connor shrugged. "What's up?"

"I just needed to ask you something, Connor," Jordan admitted.

"Yeah?"

"I know you and Daria are over, but the bro code dictates that I ask: is it all right if I ask her to the semi-formal dance? You two seemed serious when you were together."

Connor shook his head. "I don't care if you ask her. Whether Daria will go with you is completely up to her."

Jordan laughed. "I'm confident. Are you going to the dance?"

"I don't think so," Connor answered. "Walking is bad enough right now."

Jordan looked to the other side of the bench. "What about you, Jude? You're friends with Taylor, right? She'd go with you. Maybe you, Taylor, Daria, and I could double!"

Jude didn't doubt that Taylor would go with him if he asked her to. She was a friend like that; the only friend that knew the truth about him and Connor. Still, he shook his head. A school dance had never been Jude's idea of a fun night and, if Connor couldn't go, there was really no point in him going either.

"I don't think I'm going either."

"Buzzkills, the both of you." Jordan accused, and then he laughed again. "I'll see you in math, okay?"

"Okay," Jude said, while Connor said, "See you."

Once Jordan had gone, Connor turned to Jude. "If you want to go, you should. I promise I won't get jealous if you take Taylor." He grinned, trying to make the earlier tension disappear.

"I'm not going," Jude said firmly. "Maybe you could come over instead."

"I'll pester Dad," Connor agreed.

The lunch bell rang and the two boys gathered up the remains of their lunch, slowly heading back inside with the rest of the student body.

"Jude?"

"Yeah?"

"I just …" Connor hesitated as they walked down a crowded hallway. "I _need_ you to promise you'll think about what we talked about earlier."

"I will, I promise."

(-.-)

When Jude got home after school, the first thing he did was call Taylor. She was the only person that he could really turn to. He and Connor both knew one another's view points and he needed an outside perspective. While Moms would both be helpful in their advice, they just couldn't see seventh grade from the viewpoint that Jude needed them too.

"I really think you should just tell," Taylor said. "It's not going to matter. Like, yeah, people will probably talk about it for a while but what else are we going to do? Pay attention in class? Everyone gets talked about from time to time."

It wasn't so much the gossip mill that Jude was worried about. It was getting grabbed by the collar and thrown against a locker that he was worried of … or that same thing happening to Connor. Jude had been bullied before and, while he would never say that he was used to it, he was more prepared for it than Connor was. The last thing that Jude wanted was to see Connor get hurt.

"I just don't want to make things harder than they have to be."

"Things are obviously hard on Connor if he's not happy with the secret," Taylor pointed out. "Are you _happy_ keeping it a secret or have you just gotten comfortable in the secret?"

"Uhh …" Jude mumbled, thinking it over. Taylor had made a valid argument. Still, he had to say, "What if telling doesn't make it any better? What if it makes it worse? Once we say something, we can't take it back."

"What if you just calmed down?" Taylor asked. "Do you want me to be honest?"

Jude sucked in a deep breath, then decided, "Be brutal."

"We're thirteen. We're in seventh grade. Do you know how many boyfriends or girlfriends people in our grade go through per _week_? Look at how long you and Connor have been together already! You and Connor are going to be together a while … Yeah, I think you and Connor are going to be together for a while, but only if you stop worrying about other people and start worrying about your relationship! When you're thirty or forty or fifty, it's not going to matter that the weird boy that sat behind you in English was mean once. What's going to matter is that you treated your first boyfriend – who, need I remind you, is also your _best friend_ – the way that he deserved to be treated!"

"How long have you been waiting to yell at me?" Jude asked, Taylor's words settling into him.

"Long enough. Grow some balls, Jude."

"You're right. _Connor's_ been right this whole time." Jude sighed. "Connor cares about me. I care about Connor. If I don't get over myself, we'll both never be as happy as we should be."

" _Aww_ ," Taylor gushed, though Jude could hear her sarcasm, "you sound like you _love_ him."

"I – I …"

"Calm down. You don't need to bust out the 'l' word just yet."

"I should tell him in person. I'll do it tomorrow at school and then we can figure out how to tell everyone."

" _Or_ ," Taylor said dramatically.

"Or?" Jude repeated.

"The semi-formal dance is coming up," Taylor said.

"I know."

"A big gesture might be a better route."

"You mean, just show up at the dance together?" Jude said, frowning.

"Well, for telling people, yeah. But I mean with Connor! You and me, we'll think of a cute way for you to ask him to the dance and to let him know that you're okay with being out in school as a couple!"

Jude smiled, just thinking of the look on Connor's face if he and Taylor found the perfect way for Jude to ask him to the dance. When he thought of the way that Connor's eyes would light up, Jude's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, he wanted to see that look very badly.

"I like that plan."

"I thought you would." Taylor sounded smug. "Okay, we've got almost three weeks to the dance, but we'll still have to move quickly. We need to find an idea, plan it out, and then we have to execute it perfectly."

"We can do it!" Jude said with confidence. "There's a downside, though."

"What?"

"Connor's going to be unhappy with me until I ask him because he's going to think I still want to be a secret."

"You're going to have to keep him thinking that if you want to surprise him."

"I want to surprise him more," Jude said.

"Besides, I don't think that he's _entirely_ unhappy with you."

Jude laughed. "No, I don't think so either."

"Tomorrow, you and me at lunch in the library so we can do some research, okay?"

"Okay!"

(-.-)

"You're not eating with me?"

Jude shook his head, trying to keep from caving to the pout on Connor's face. "Taylor needs to talk to me. She's got some stuff going on."

"She's my friend too. Maybe I can help," Connor insisted.

"She just wanted to talk to me, sorry."

"I hope she's okay. I'll see you later, then."

"Bye."

Out of habit, Connor tilted toward Jude, as if to give him a kiss goodbye and then caught himself at the last moment. It didn't help his expression when he noticed a couple – a boy and a girl – casually making out in the corner, tucked where the teachers couldn't see them. Connor didn't want to make out with Jude at school, but he did want to at least be able to hold his hand, peck him on the lips when they went their separate ways, and just act the way they did when they were at home; when they were free to be a couple.

Jude turned his back on Connor, making his way down to the library as quickly as he could. Taylor was already set up at one of the computers. Jude dragged a chair over so that he was sitting next to her, looking at the several internet tabs that she already had open.

"Prom-posals," Jude read. "This isn't prom."

Taylor rolled his eyes. "All the good ideas come from prom. But we need to find something that fits you and Connor. We can't just randomly pick something." She clicked to one of her tabs. "I saw this baseball one, where you write on the ball and throw it at them?"

"Connor hasn't been able to play this year because of his foot. He's been a little upset about it. I don't want to rub it in his face."

"Okay … there's the pizza one, where you write it on the inside of a box with a marker. What about that?"

"We always get pizza when we're with my family or his dad." Jude shook his head. It would do no good to do it in front of their families; it wasn't what he wanted.

"Fine, fine." Taylor clicked past a few more ideas, two of which Jude rejected and four of which she didn't even ask about. "Can you think of anything off the top of your head?"

"I don't – Wait! Stop!"

Taylor paused in her clicking. "What? Leaving a note in his locker? That's not really a big gesture, though."

"I know." Jude agreed with her. It wasn't big enough. "But I like the idea of leaving something in his locker."

"What about the scavenger hunt idea? Lots of people do scavenger hunts. We could start with his locker and then lead him all over the school."

"I'd be worried that people would find them before he did," Jude said slowly. "What if … I left something in his locker for the next few days leading up to the dance? Not like scavenger clues but _something_."

"Oh! What if you left a different letter – like alphabet letter – in his locker every day and then in the end it would spell out something like 'go to the dance with me' or whatever."

"I like that!" Jude exclaimed. "And I'd mix up the letters to keep him in the dark longer!"

"It'd be like a puzzle!" Taylor added.

"Okay, so how many school days do we have until the dance?"

Taylor pulled up the calendar on the computer. "Fifteen to the day of the dance. But maybe we should go with fourteen, just so he's not completely blind-sided with the dance on the day of, you know?"

"Fourteen, good plan." Jude grabbed a notebook out of his bag, feeling energized and excited. He couldn't wait to see Connor's face. He picked up his pen and numbered fourteen lines on his notebook page. "What will fit into fourteen letters?"

"How many is 'let's go to the dance'?"

"Too many," Jude guessed right off the bat, scribbling them down. "Yup, too many."

"Be my date to the dance?"

"Too many," Jude repeated. He thought of 'be my date' but that was too short. Hmm, what about … "Darn."

"What?"

"'Be my dance date' is one letter too short."

"We could go with thirteen," Taylor suggested, but didn't press it further once she saw the look on Jude's face. " _Or_ we could add a question mark?"

"That's smart."

"I have beauty and brains!" Taylor preened. "Who knew?"

"Thanks for helping me," Jude said.

"Thank me if it works. Now, come on. We still have time to cut the letters out before the bell goes."

(-.-)

"What the?"

Jude leant against the bank of lockers, standing next to Connor as his boyfriend pulled a large, blue 'T' out of his locker.

"What's that for?" Jude asked, trying to look genuinely confused. He looked confused enough for Connor to not give him a second look, anyway.

"I have no idea," Connor answered and he shoved it to the back of his locker. "I found an 'E' in there yesterday."

"Why?"

"I have no idea," Connor repeated, shutting his locker and securing the lock. "Something dumb, probably. Or someone got the wrong locker."

Jude crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look annoyed. "You don't have a secret admirer, do you?"

"I could," Connor said, thinking about it. "I mean, as far as people are concerned, I'm single."

"Maybe Daria wants you back," Jude muttered, sincerely annoyed by his boyfriend's comment. Connor was not _single_. Connor was _his_.

"It wouldn't matter if I were able to tell them I was in a relationship," Connor said, passive aggressiveness ripe in every word.

"Soon," Jude assured him without thinking, and Connor stopped in the hallway, pulling Jude from the flow of traffic.

"Soon?" he echoed, looking torn between hope and reality. "You thought about …"

Jude shook his head, remembering the role that he had to play. "No … I mean, I did think about it, but I didn't mean like this week or next week or that soon. I'm working on it, Connor, I promise."

"That's better than nothing," Connor said. Jude didn't know what expression was on his own face but in response to it, Connor hurriedly said, "I'll wait for you."

"Thanks," Jude said, meaning it with every fiber of his being.

"It's for my own benefit," Connor told him with a laugh.

"Oh, so this has nothing to do with me?" Jude teased as they began to walk again.

Connor pretended to look puzzled. "Why would it have anything to do with you?"

Jude just shoved Connor's shoulder.

(-.-)

"Jude! Come here!"

The moment Jude walked through the front door of Anchor Beach that morning, Connor was standing there, ready to seize his upper arm and march him down the hallway.

"What's going on?" Jude asked, although he was almost nervous to ask.

Connor parked Jude beside his locker and quickly put in his combination, opening the little grey cube and pointing inside. "I have _five_ letters now."

"Five?" Jude repeated. "Do they spell anything?"

He peered into the depths of Connor's locker, where Connor had taped all of the letters to the back wall. E, T, D, N, and another D.

"Dent … Maybe it's supposed to be dented." Connor's breath came out in a huff. "Tend? But there's the second D. It keeps screwing me up!"

"Maybe someone's just trying to mess with you," Jude suggested, trying not to grin. "Maybe it's not supposed to say anything."

Connor sighed. "You're not up to something, are you?"

Jude offered Connor his patented look. "Why would I leave letters in your locker?"

"Maybe you're trying to tell me something."

"Why wouldn't I just tell you?" Jude asked him. "Why would I need to leave stupid letters in your locker?"

"I don't know! But I don't know who else _would_."

"Someone's just trying to screw with you," Jude said, trying to make it sound like there was no other option. Was Connor already suspicious of him? It wouldn't be quite as much fun if he actually were, although it wouldn't stop Jude's plan.

"Maybe I should just throw them out then," Connor said, seriously considering Jude's words.

"Wait and see if anymore show up." Jude tried not to say anything too quickly, otherwise Connor really _would_ get suspicious of him. "If someone is trying to tell you something, you want to have all the puzzle pieces."

"You're right."

"Of course I am."

As Connor sorted out what he needed from his locker, Jude felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled the electronic from his jeans, reading the text from Taylor.

 **Taylor: did he figure it out?**

Jude looked up, spotting Taylor standing near the end of the hall by Daria's locker, looking concerned at the interaction between the two boys. Quickly he typed back, **No. He thinks someone's just messing with him.**

 **Taylor: is it driving him crazy?**

 **Jude: Completely.**

 **Taylor: Good. Then it's still working.**

"Ready for class?" Connor asked.

"Yeah," Jude said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Let's go."

(-.-)

 **Connor: what does EDNDTBYAM spell?**

 **Connor: THERE'S A QUESTION MARK IN MY LOCKER!**

 **Jude: my end tand? … No. By am nend?**

 **Jude: maybe that means you're supposed to figure it all out now.**

 **Connor: it doesn't mean anything!**

 **Jude: maybe it's going to lead us to pirate treasure.**

 **Connor: you think you're funny don't you?**

 **Jude: Yup!**

 **Jude: You're obsessing over this, aren't you?**

 **Connor: the word you're looking for is investigating.**

 **Jude: let me know if you need any help while you're playing Scooby-Doo.**

 **Connor: Want to join me on a stake out?**

 **Jude: how are you going to stake out your locker when we're in class all day?**

 **Connor: I wasn't trying to stake out my locker. I was just trying to get you alone.**

Jude could think of nothing to say to that, so he just sent Connor back the blushing face emoji.

(-.-)

Jude showed up at Connor's locker that morning, knowing that Connor would want to catch him up on the latest letter development. Jude was swiftly running out of letters and the closer he got to the bottom of the pile, the more worried he became that Connor would figure it out beforehand. Luck, and Connor's brain, were on his side though. Connor was still in the dark, if only because he had been studying the letters too much and wasn't even sure if there was a real word in the mess of them at all.

"Hey, Jude," Connor said, walking up.

"Hi, Connor."

Jude hadn't been able to leave the letter in Connor's locker yesterday. In the end, he'd texted Taylor his locker combination and told her to give Connor an E. He was worried that she had forgotten to or that she had gotten the wrong locker or that something else had gone wrong, but when Connor pulled the locker door open, there was an E sitting on top of his science textbook.

Connor just grabbed a piece of tape from the dispenser he'd taken to keeping his locker and stuck the E up on one of the metal walls with all of the others.

"Not even going to try to puzzle it out?"

"No," Connor said, sounding mildly grumpy as he slammed the locker door shut. "I decided that I'm just going to figure it out when I have all of the letters."

 _Only two more to go,_ Jude thought, and then he realized that he'd have to write 'the end' or something else on the last letter – the C – just to tell Connor that it was time to figure out the phrase. "Are you still coming over after school on Thursday?"

"Of course!" Connor exclaimed. "Even though I'm spending the night Friday."

Jude shrugged. Connor would never question Jude wanting to spend extra time with him and Connor was going to seize every moment Adam allowed him. Still, Jude said, "You don't _have_ to."

"You know I _want_ too." Connor smiled at Jude and Jude smiled back, feeling the overwhelming urge to hold Connor's hand.

 _Soon_.

(-.-)

Jude had butterflies in his stomach as he accompanied Connor to his locker. He and Connor were gathering their things before heading to the car, where Lena was supposed to be meeting them. Jude had slipped the C in Connor's locker only half an hour ago. In just a little while, Connor would know what the message said. In just over twenty-four hours, if Connor agreed to go to the dance with him, everyone would know that they were together.

Jude was ready.

Connor opened his locker slowly. "Let's see what we have today." He reached inside and pulled out the C. Out of habit, he reached for the tape, but when he turned the letter over, he noticed a spidery, black scrawl on the back. "The end," Connor read. "Jude!"

"What?" Jude's eyes widened, trying to analyze the written words as if he were an outside observer. He'd used his non-dominant to write them, just so that Connor wouldn't guess that it was Jude who had written them. He had managed to keep Connor in the dark for a lot longer than he had expected too and was determined to keep it that way if he could.

"I have all the letters!" In a rush, Connor started pulling the previous letters from the walls of his lockers. "You're going to have to help me put this together!"

"If it means anything."

"It has too. This is utter B.S. if it doesn't!" Carefully, Connor pressed the letters between the pages of his notebook to keep them from getting wrinkled and then he slid the notebook into his bag. "Let's go out to the car so we can get to your house and figure this out!"

"If we're smart enough to figure it out!" Jude laughed, following Connor out to the staff parking lot.

Lena was already sitting in the car, waiting. When they got into the car, Connor couldn't help but peeking at the letters. Lena caught Jude's eye in the rear view mirror, fully aware of what was going on, and Jude gave her a smile. They pulled into the driveway and Connor practically dragged Jude into the empty living room, taking a seat on the floor so that they would have room to spread out the letters.

"You're so excited!" Jude observed, feeling happy as he realized he had caused this excitement in Connor.

"This has been going on for _weeks_. I need to know."

They spread out all of the letters, Connor immediately rearranging some. "We have three E's."

"Two A's."

"Two D's."

"Only one B, one M, one N."

"One C and one T."

"Plus the question mark."

Connor nodded. "Um. Where do we start?"

"This is your project."

"Okay. Give me the question mark because that obviously goes at the end."

"Obviously."

"So, is it 'my' and 'be' or 'me' and 'by'?"

"Or neither," Jude said.

"Are you going to be helpful?"

"Sorry," Jude apologized. "Well, let's go with 'my' and 'be' and see if we can make it work around that."

He slid the letters around to create the words. He hadn't intended to help Connor. He and Taylor had planned it out that he would act stupid and sarcastic so that Connor would _have_ to do it on his own, but Jude couldn't keep that kind of façade going. Now that Connor was so close to figuring out Jude's message, Jude wanted him to do it right now.

"'Be my' makes sense. Like, to go after one another," Connor mused, switching the two words around. "All right. Well, pass me the … T."

"Why?"

"We just have to start somewhere," Connor explained with a shrug. "I still see the word 'tend'."

"'Be my tend'. That makes sense."

"Maybe it's the last word." Connor grabbed one of the D's. "Okay, forget 'tend'. What about na … nope. That's not it either."

"What about a word that starts with the D?" Jude asked.

"D … E ... A … D?" Connor's eyes widened.

"I don't think someone's trying to kill you," Jude said quickly. "Let's forget about that word."

"I hope no one's trying to kill me!"

"I'll protect you," Jude promised.

Connor moved one of the D's and the E. "D … A … T … E. Date. 'Be my date'." He frowned, looking at Jude. "You have to have something to do with this!"

Jude shook his head, trying to look upset that Connor was accusing him, although inside he thought that he was going to burst with the thrill of watching Connor put the pieces together. "I swear, I don't!"

Connor looked skeptical. He pulled the remaining letters toward him, able to quickly rearrange them into the remaining word. "Dance. Be my date dance … No. Be my dance date?" He read the words with a thrill of triumph, congratulating himself on figuring the puzzle out after so long of staring at it, and the words sunk in and he read the words again in a low tone. "Be my dance date?"

He looked up at Jude, hardly daring to hope but he couldn't keep the anticipation off his face.

"If you want to go with me," Jude said, "I want to go with you. But even if we don't go to the dance, Connor, this is me telling you that I don't care who knows anymore. I _want_ you to be able to call me your boyfriend and hold my hand and –"

Jude was silenced as Connor leant across the message displayed on the floor to kiss Jude. As Jude always did, he found himself pressing his lips against Connor's, wanting more from the kiss. Kissing Connor hadn't stopped being thrilling; it had even become even more intoxicating through all of the kissing that they had been doing.

"I want to go to the dance with you, Jude."

"Really?" Jude said.

Connor nodded. "Although, someday, I'll get you back for these weeks of torture."

Jude didn't care if Connor's version of revenge included kissing, a prank, or, drastically, a firing squad. Everything that would happen, from here on out, had been made worth it by the light of hope that flared in Connor's eyes when he realized what Jude was telling him; had been made worth it by the slow smile that had become brilliant; had been made worth it by the toe-curling, heart-stopping kiss Connor had just given him. Whatever their classmates said didn't matter, because it was Connor that mattered. It had always been Connor that mattered.

"Just one thing," Connor said.

"What?" Jude asked, a little concerned now.

"Just because we're going to a dance together doesn't mean I want you to get me flowers."

Jude laughed and, just because he could, wrapped his arms around Connor to give him a hug. "Just because we're dating doesn't mean I've stopped knowing you."

Connor's arms folded around Jude.

"For the record," Jude said, "I don't want flowers either."

"Deal," Connor agreed, and then he kissed Jude again.

(-.-)

Jude fidgeted nervously, watching the driveway through the living room window. Adam was driving him and Connor to the dance and they should be here any moment to pick Jude up. He would also been picking Jude and Connor up from the dance, only to drop the two of them off at the Adams-Foster house for a well-supervised sleepover.

"Love, you're going to be fine."

"I know," Jude said to Stef, who was sitting beside him on the couch, keeping him company through his anxious minutes.

"Even in the aftermath."

"I know," Jude repeated. Ever since he and Connor had started dating, he, Stef, and Lena had talked more times than Jude could count about coming out and all of the outcomes that could possibly happen afterward. Jude didn't need to hear a rehash of the lecture now. Stef's and Lena's accounts of coming out and being in a gay relationship were more valuable to Jude than he knew how to tell them, but all three of them knew that there was only so much that discussion could do. It was through experience, trial and error, and simply living that he would learn how to deal with the world.

Jude saw headlights and bounced from the couch.

"You look so cute," Lena said, already in her sweats. She wasn't chaperoning tonight but now she was sort of wishing that she had volunteered when they were looking for staff to fill the chaperone positions.

It was only a semi-formal dance, so Jude had on black pants and a button up shirt. But Stef and Lena had been telling him how good he looked since he had gotten dressed.

"Have fun," Stef said.

"Mom and I will be waiting for you and Connor when you two get home," Lena said, hugging Jude.

"Bye, Moms!" Jude said, waving once as he ducked out the front door.

He walked quickly over to Adam's car, letting himself into the backseat. Connor was sitting up front with Adam.

"Hello, Jude," Adam greeted.

"Hello," Jude replied. Things had been awkward with Adam, but Connor's father had sworn up and down that so long as the two of them behaved, he wouldn't try to keep them apart. Adam had laid out several rules for the boys whenever they were in his presence or in his house and, as they were only mildly stricter than Stef's or Lena's rules, neither boy could complain.

Adam wasn't usually talkative and this night was no exception. He drove the boys up to the dance's location, which was already flooded with other cars dropping off their seventh grade wards.

"I'll pick you up after the dance. Connor, if your foot is bothering you, make sure you call me earlier."

"Of course, Dad." Connor was reaching for the door handle when Adam blurted, " _Wait!_ "

"Yeah?" Connor said, turning back toward his father.

"I'm going to sit out here for another little while," Adam revealed.

"Why?" Connor asked, while Jude frowned in confusion.

"Because I listen when you talk," Adam said. "If you and Jude end up feeling unwelcome, then I want you to know you have a quick escape route. I just want you to be safe. Both of you."

"Thanks, Dad. That means a lot to me," Connor said.

"Thanks, Mr. Stevens."

"It's all right, Jude, if you want to call me Adam," Connor's father said, turning in his seat so that he could see the teenager sitting in the back.

"Okay, Adam." Jude smiled. If this was how the night was starting, he and Connor had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Go, have fun." Adam said. "I'll be right here for the next bit, just in case."

Connor nodded, and then he and Jude both let themselves out of the car. Once the doors were shut behind them, Connor looked over at his boyfriend.

"Ready?"

"Ready?" Jude said with a nod.

He held out his hand to Connor, painted blue nails pointing down at the pavement. Connor confidently placed his hands in Jude's, his own blue nail polish gleaming. Holding tightly onto one another, not knowing what the night would bring, they walked in the front door of the dance. Boys in button ups, some with ties and some without, were standing around, some of them looking toward girls in brightly patterned dresses, while couples were clinging to each other on the dance floor, spinning around in circles even though a slow song wasn't playing.

"Jude!" Taylor leapt toward the couple as soon as they walked in. "Connor!"

"Hey," they said.

"Did you like your dance invite?" Taylor asked Connor slyly.

"I did … Although, when I get my revenge on Jude for it, I'm also taking revenge on you."

Taylor mockingly rolled her eyes. "Neither of you can ever just be thankful. You're meant for each other." She looked at their interlocked hands. "Doing okay?"

"Doing okay," Jude echoed. "Hopefully we stay that way."

"If anyone gives you trouble, just kill them," Taylor said, sounding so serious that Jude had to do a double-take.

A slow song began to play overhead and Taylor looked over her shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I promised a boy a dance. Maybe you two should join us on the dance floor!"

Jude and Connor watched her walk toward Jake. They lingered against the wall for a moment, unsure of what to do next.

"Do you want to dance?" Connor asked, taking the initiative.

Jude nodded. He knew the moment they stepped out there and wrapped their arms around each other like all of the other boy-girl couples were doing, the stares and the gossiping would begin, but he didn't care. He wanted to dance with Connor. He squeezed Connor's hand and repeated his new mantra to himself: _This is not about them; this is only about Connor and I. This is not about them; this is only about Connor and I._

Feeling confident, Jude said, "Let's go."

Hand in hand, they made their way across the floor so that they were relatively near Taylor, who they knew for sure was on their side. Jude curled against Connor, feeling his boyfriend's arms encircle him. He stepped as close to him as any other couple, feeling the heat of Connor completely against his body. He rested his head against Connor's shoulder, feeling Connor's cheek lean against the side of his head. As they turned in slow circles, half shuffling because of Connor's reluctance to trust his injured foot, Jude caught sight of classmates, some whom had even paused to stare. He felt Connor's hands dig into his ribs in worry at the same time Jude caught sight of Daria, dancing with Jordan, a mixture of shock and confusion on her face. When Jude met her dark eyes, though, she managed to smile at him and he found himself smiling back. Daria had been hurt in the aftermath of her and Connor's break-up but if she could forgive them and be happy, and if Adam could let them be happy, then Jude was sure that everything else would be fine. He could feel it. Everything was going to be fine.

Jude lifted his head so that his lips were next to Connor's ear because, as the whispers swelled around them, Jude had to ask, "Are you happy, Connor?"

No matter how confident he felt about the future, he needed to make sure his boyfriend felt the same way. After all, he had done all of this so that Connor would be happy.

"Of course I am!"

Jude smiled, the strength of Connor's response leaving no doubt.

"Are you happy, Jude?" Connor asked, meeting Jude's dark eyes.

"The happiest," Jude said and then, even though it was technically against school rules, Jude gave Connor a quick kiss.

As their lips met, Jude felt the moment Connor began to smile.

 **So, uh, this one-shot wasn't supposed to happen … Um, yeah. This is another one of those "I wrote it in a day and finished it at three in the morning so it's unedited and I'll go back and fix it up later" one-shots.**

 **I don't own anything recognizable.**

 **~TLL~**

 ***Edited June 9** **th** **2015**

 ***Edited June 14** **th** **2015**


	2. Be My Prom Date?

**This is for Roberto, because he's a jerk and because I could feel the puppy eyes across a continent. I know it's not exactly what you were thinking of, babe, but I hope you like it anyway!**

"Taylor."

The seventeen-year-old girl looked up from her locker, smiling at her friend. "Connor. How may I help you today?"

He grinned at her. "You're going to regret asking me that."

Taylor shut her locker door, turning around to lean against the metal so that she was facing the tall boy. "I doubt it. Unless we're planning a murder."

"Well," Connor drawled and laughed at the expression on her face. "No, not a murder."

"But planning something. If you're looking to put together a nefarious plot, you have come to the right place."

"I do need your help," Connor admitted, "but you need to promise me something first."

"What?"

"You can't breathe a word of this to Jude."

Taylor looked surprised and she stared at the sandy-haired teen. " _You_ want to keep something from Jude? Isn't that, like, the first sign of the apocalypse?"

Connor rolled his brown eyes. "Really?"

She shrugged.

"So, do you promise or not?"

"I promise," Taylor agreed. "Now, what are we doing to your poor boyfriend?"

Connor hesitated. "You need to tell me something first. And I need you to swear you're not lying to me."

"I thought step one was me promising not tell Jude."

"Do you want to help me or not?" Connor asked, sounding frustrated.

"Sorry, of course I do. I swear I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Does Jude have any plans to ask me to prom?"

Taylor looked away from his face, twisting one of her bracelets around her wrist. "Why would I know something like that?"

"Come on, Taylor." If Jude were planning something, she would be the one to know, and they were both aware of that fact.

"Fine." She met his eyes again. "No, not that I've heard. And he would have told me if he were."

"Good." Connor seemed satisfied with her answer.

"Are you going to ask him to prom?" Taylor guessed and he nodded. "That's _so_ cute! Do you need my help in figuring out how to do it?"

Connor shook his head. "I have a plan, I just need your help executing the plan."

"I am all in." Taylor leant in toward him. "Tell me what we're doing."

Connor glanced around the hallway, making sure that there was no one in the hallway who would overhear and tell Jude and to make sure that Jude, himself, was not in the vicinity. The coast clear, Connor brought his lips close to Taylor's ear, explaining in a low voice what he was going to do. When he was done, he straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest, watching Taylor's jaw drop.

"Connor Stevens!" She cried, whacking his bicep. "This _is_ a murder plot!"

"What?"

"You're going to give Jude a heart attack."

"I've calculated the risks and I'm moving forward with my plan. Are you in?"

Taylor shook her head, although she was grinning at him, letting Connor know that she was completely on his side.

"You have to admit, it's brilliant."

"It _is_ brilliant," Taylor agreed. "Although you know he's going to be a wreck for the next couple of weeks if you're making him think that you're going to propose to him."

"Only if you help me pull this off," Connor said seriously. "You're one of our closest friends and I know he trusts you completely. If there's someone we know that's going to be in on this, it's you, and he's going to be suspicious."

"My performance will be worthy of an Oscar and every other possible award out there," Taylor said. "Are there any details that I need to know?"

"Prom is on the twenty-sixth. At this point, we're both just assuming we're going together, so the actual asking isn't going to be done until the twenty-third."

"Where?"

"…We're going to have to work on that," Connor made a face. "As of right now, all I need from you is to pretend that you know that I'm going to," he lifted his hands for visual air quotes, "'propose'."

"All right. We'll have to talk about this, like, every day to make sure we're on the same page."

"A sacrifice that I am willing to make," Connor joked. "We'll work out some of the other stuff later."

"It's a plan," Taylor agreed. "So, this is starting now?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, he's coming this way." Taylor met Connor's eyes. "Quick! Look like you just told me about _it_."

"Oh," Connor stumbled, and he immediately started wondering if he'd be able to pull this off as well as he thought he could. "Um, you mean just look like I'm saying words?"

Taylor nodded and made her face a mask of shock. "Oh my God!"

"Oh my God what?" Jude asked, arriving just on cue, stopping at Connor's side. He studied Taylor's face. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no," Taylor said quickly. She shook her head at him. "I, uh, have to go. Bye, Jude! Uh … Connor." She took off down the hallway.

"That was weird," Jude said, looking up into Connor's face. "Is she okay?"

Connor shrugged. "I guess so. She was fine when we were talking."

"What were you talking about?"

"Just classes." Connor shrugged again. "Ready for lunch?"

"Uh-huh." Jude grabbed Connor's hand. "I have the car today. Want to go somewhere that's _not_ the cafeteria?"

"Lead the way," Connor invited, and he and Jude headed for the parking lot.

(-.-)

"How thoroughly do you think cloning will be covered on the exam?" Jude asked, staring down at his open binder. Taylor was sitting next to him – they both had the same free period and they had agreed that today they were going to do some preparation for the upcoming biology exam and had met outside on one of the benches. He, however, had been doing most of the preparing. He didn't know what was going on in Taylor's head, but she had been completely checked out for almost fifteen minutes. With a sigh, Jude slammed his binder shut and Taylor jumped. "Do you need to talk about something?"

" _No_ ," Taylor blurted, acting as weird as she'd been yesterday. "Do you?"

"Me?" Jude repeated and frowned. "No. Why would I?"

"No reason," Taylor squeaked.

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

Taylor nodded. "I know, but Jude, I swear, that this isn't about me."

"Who's it about?"

Taylor took a deep breath, mentally reviewing the conversation she had with Connor this morning before school started. "Can I ask you something?"

"Always," Jude told her. Taylor was one of his closest friends. In fact, she was his best friend – excluding Connor, of course. There was very little about him that he would be unwilling to share with Taylor.

"How serious do you think you and Connor are?"

"Serious," Jude replied, because it was true. It was also something that Taylor knew. "Going from high school to university is going to be hard, especially because we're not going to the same school, even though we're only half an hour apart, but we both think we're going to be able to stay together. We both _want_ to."

They weren't a perfect couple by any means, but, then again, they never had been. But that didn't mean that they were giving up on each other. Jude and Connor had fought for their relationship before and they hadn't given up on it. Jude was confident that if they had survived ninth grade (and all of the angst-riddled, teenaged hissy fits they had both thrown throughout the duration of it) then they would survive anything, including university.

"So, you're still in love with him?"

"Why are you asking?" Jude asked her, suspicious. She wasn't just _his_ friend, she was _Connor's_ friend too. Did she know something he didn't? Jude immediately though that if he didn't know about it, that if Connor hadn't told him, then it must be a very bad thing. "You know that I am."

Taylor met his eye and then she quickly looked away again.

"Taylor." Jude grabbed her forearm, terrified to even ask. "Taylor, does he not love me anymore?"

"Oh, Jude!" Taylor gasped, sounding horrified. "Of course he does!"

Jude breathed a sigh of relief, although it had only been a small part of him that was in doubt, he knew that Connor would _always_ love him, and then he squinted at Taylor again. "Then why are you asking me all of these weird questions?"

"I can't tell you." She reached across Jude to open the binder on his lap. "Let's get back to bio."

"You were never focused on bio," Jude pointed out, and he closed his binder once more. "I'm really freaked out right now."

Taylor frowned, looking like she was thinking deeply. "No, really, I _can't_. I promised Connor I wouldn't say anything."

"But Connor does have something to do with it."

Taylor nodded.

"I'll talk to him later, then," Jude decided.

"Probably a better course of action."

Jude agreed and then he let Taylor open his binder again.

(-.-)

Connor drove Jude home that afternoon. Jude rolled the window down in Connor's car as his boyfriend carefully left the school parking lot.

"Can we take the long way home today?" Jude asked.

"Sure," Connor agreed, looking at Jude with a sly grin on his face. "Did you want to park somewhere?"

"I actually just need to talk to you without the chance of being interrupted."

Connor slowed down as they approached a stop sign. "I'm worried now."

"Yeah, well, me too."

"Oh?" As they were stopped, Connor looked at Jude in confusion. "What are you worried about?"

"I was talking to Taylor after lunch –"

"What did she tell you?"

"Nothing!" Jude cried, but was surprised at the concern in Connor's tone. "What do you not want me to know?"

"Nothing," Connor repeated, looking offended that Jude would think he would hide anything from him. As he stepped on the gas, he asked, "Why? What did she say?"

"She was acting weird, asking if I thought we were going to stay together and if I thought I still loved you."

"And do you?"

" _Yeah_." Jude rolled his eyes. "Did you put her up to something?"

Connor snorted. "Something like what?"

"I don't know. Are you thinking of breaking up with me?"

" _No!_ Never. And if that's what Taylor told you, I'm going to kill her."

"Taylor didn't tell me anything like that. She was really secretive, which is weird, because Taylor is usually _too_ open."

"Agreed," Connor said, shuddering.

"So, what did you tell her?" Jude pressed again.

"Nothing! I swear! And, I'm not hiding anything from you or putting Taylor up to anything or doing anything else that I could possibly be doing to make you suspicious."

"That's what a guilty person would say," Jude joked.

Connor pouted at Jude. "But I'm innocent."

"Also what a guilty person would say." Jude laughed.

Connor pulled his car to the side of the empty street, turning off the ignition. He turned to face Jude, resting his elbow on top of the console and then propping his head up on the palm of his hand.

"If you don't like my innocence," he told Jude, winking for extra measure, "then you should just take it."

"In your _Dad's_ car, on a street, in broad daylight. Yes, that screams 'good idea!' to me," Jude commented sarcastically.

"Hey, if that's your kink, I can work with it." Connor grinned as Jude reached over and shoved him. He pretended to grumble as he said, "Well, _fine_ , next time I proposition you it'll be in a dark alley as far away from any of my father's property as we can get."

"Connor!" Jude exclaimed, although the name was riddled with his chuckling.

"Not your kink either? I can work with that too."

Jude was shaking his head at his boyfriend. "Sometimes I have no idea what to say to you."

"I think you just keep me around because I'm cute," Connor confided.

"Oh yeah," Jude agreed, leaping on the idea. "You are nothing more than eye candy."

In the confines of the car, Connor flexed. "At least I'm good at it."

Jude wanted to argue, but there was simply no way that he could.

"You know you love me."

Jude shrugged. "You think I do, anyway."

Connor reached his hand out to hold Jude's, not taking his boyfriend's words seriously. Jude loved him and he would never doubt that.

"One more thing," Jude said.

Connor groaned. "If this is about Taylor –"

"It's not," Jude assured him. He'd see Taylor tomorrow and start questioning her then.

"Good," Connor said, although he was glad that Taylor already had Jude obsessing. His plan to ask Jude to prom – and to drive his boyfriend insane in the upcoming weeks – was already going better than he had hoped it would be by day two. "What is it?"

Jude looked uncomfortable for the briefest moment. "You've just been bringing up the sex thing more often."

"That wasn't a question," Connor pointed out. He ran his thumb over the back of Jude's hand. "It's exactly what I told you before. When both of us are ready, it will happen. It doesn't matter how long we've been dating – there's no schedule. Neither of us are ready yet, and that's fine."

"I just thought that, since you've been talking about it more, that you'd changed your mind," Jude admitted.

Connor shook his head. "I'm usually just joking around."

"You are kind of funny," Jude said.

"I'm _hilarious_ ," Connor corrected, and he let go of Jude's hand to reach his arm around his boyfriend's waist. He drew Jude closer to him. "Don't doubt that I want you, Jude, but I'm not willing to risk pushing either of us too far."

Jude turned his head to the side so that he could kiss Connor, feeling relieved at the words. He and Connor were still on the same page when it came to sex; when it came to everything. He wrapped his hands in the front of Connor's shirt, pulling him closer even though the console of the car was in the way and they couldn't get as close as they usually could when kissing. Connor kissed him back, and Jude found himself wondering if Connor's embrace was any less passionate than it usually was, but if anything, Connor was a little more frenzied with his kisses than he had been recently. Jude was sure that he had misinterpreted Taylor earlier – Connor was _not_ even thinking about breaking up with him – but, then, he had wonder what Taylor was up to.

"You should take me home," Jude said breathlessly against Connor's lips.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Connor teased, pulling away enough to look Jude in the eye.

"No one's at home," Jude pointed out bluntly.

Connor's eyebrows raised. "We might get in trouble, being alone in the house."

"Are you telling me that you're not willing to break a rule for me?" Jude asked.

"I have taken a bullet for you," Connor reminded him. "I'll certainly break a rule for you."

He faced the steering wheel once more, turning the car back on.

"I had nothing to do with you getting shot," Jude maintained.

"You would say that," Connor snorted. He took one hand off the steering wheel and offered it to Jude.

Jude threaded his fingers through Connor's and leant toward the window, the warm spring wind washing over his face. This felt perfect.

(-.-)

Jude followed Taylor into the library at lunch, catching up with her once she had entered the tall stacks of the non-fiction section.

"Jude!" She screeched when he tapped her on the shoulder. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized. "But I need to talk to you."

Taylor stared at him expectantly.

"Same subject as yesterday."

Taylor ran her hand through her short hair, fluffing it around her face. "I already told you, I can't tell you."

"Why not? You make it sound like there's some big dramatic thing going on, but you're the only one acting weird. I talked to Connor yesterday and he said he doesn't know what's going on either."

"Did you ever consider," Taylor asked, turning to look at the rows of books, "that Connor might lie to you?"

"No. I know what Connor lying looks like. You're both terrible at it."

"I've lied to you before," Taylor argued, and then she blushed. "Not about big things. Don't take that the wrong way." She made a face. "I've also kept secrets for you before, meaning I've lied for you."

"Are you saying you're keeping a secret for Connor?"

"Being detained and interrogated would be easier than dealing with you!" Taylor griped. She turned around to face him fully. "Jude, you're my friend. I would tell you if I could. But I can't – whether it's Connor's secret or _not_."

"You already told me that it had something to do with Connor! You said so yesterday!"

Taylor heaved a long sigh. "That doesn't mean I can say anything else!"

"Taylor!" Jude stalked behind her as she went to another aisle.

"If you're so concerned, why don't you interrogate Connor some more?" Taylor cried, and then she paused to frown at him. "Where is your shadow, anyway?"

"He's not my shadow. And the baseball coach wanted to see the team over lunch break today."

Taylor nodded, but she didn't say anything else.

"If you can't say, can I at least guess?"

"That'd be breaking Connor's trust," Taylor said as she pulled out her phone, pretending to answer a text. Instead, she sent one herself: **How soon did you want him to find out about you proposing? Because I can only play ditzy, secretive friend for so long before he gets pissed.**

Despite his meeting, Connor was able to reply to her almost instantly: **you can tell him now. Just don't hand it to him, you know? I wish I could see his face.**

 **Taylor: I'll make sure to describe every detail to you later. I'll paint a masterpiece as brilliant as the Mona Lisa for you!**

 **Connor: I'm expecting my masterpiece by Monday.**

Taylor put her phone back in her pocket. "But, fine. Guess."

Jude's mind went blank as he tried to think of what it could be. "He's not breaking up with me?"

"No, although we covered this yesterday." Taylor pulled a book off the shelf, read the synopsis, and put it back. "It's kind of the opposite."

"What's the opposite of breaking up?" Jude almost chuckled; he was that confused. "Wouldn't that just be staying together?"

"Uh, something like that." Taylor nodded.

Jude trailed behind her as she found the book she was looking for and went to check it out at the front desk. He was mulling Taylor's words over in his head; it felt like some kind of distorted riddle. _The opposite of breaking up is … The opposite of breaking up is … Getting together? But we're already together. What comes after getting together?_

"Marriage!" Jude gasped as they walked out the library doors. "Wait! What?"

Taylor glanced up at him. "So, Connor's meeting is probably over by now. You should go see him." She made sure that her voice was too high, like she was nervous about something.

Jude felt sick at her tone. "Taylor, you're playing with me, right?"

"Yes! Totally a joke, because joking about eighteen year olds and –" Taylor cut herself off. "Jude, you can't let him know that you know. He'd never forgive me."

Jude felt like he was going to faint. If Taylor had to tell him to keep his silence, this meant that she was serious and that he had been right. Still, he squeaked out, "Connor's going to propose?"

Taylor gaped at him for a moment, mouth opening and closing like she was going to deny it, and then she dropped her head into a nod. "But you know nothing!"

"How can I pretend I don't know this?" Jude demanded of her. "Oh … my … I … _What?_ "

They were eighteen. They were still in high school. This was _not_ happening. This conversation was _not_ taking place.

"I don't know! You were the one that was so desperate to figure it out."

"Connor wouldn't do this," Jude decided, suddenly. "Connor knows me. I know Connor. There is no way that he'd ever even consider something like this."

Taylor snorted. "Um, head over heels in love, big gesture, often insecure in your relationship, terrified of going to different universities, Connor Stevens wouldn't consider proposing to you?"

"Don't lay it out in a way where it sounds half-plausible!" Jude snapped. He leant against the wall, hiding his head in his hands. "Oh no."

"Would it be that bad?" Taylor asked, standing next to him.

"Yes! Because I'd have to break up with him!"

" _What?_ " Taylor gasped. "Jude!"

"No, just think about it," Jude urged her, panic apparent. "If he asks, I'm going to have to say no! Just because I love him doesn't mean I'm going to say I'll marry him at eighteen! And, after I say no, things are going to change to the point where we're going to break-up."

"You don't know that for sure," Taylor soothed him. "You don't know anything for sure."

Jude was himself enough to roll his eyes at her words. Of course he knew it for sure!

"Do you know when he's going to do it?"

Taylor shook her head. "I … before the month is out, I think."

Jude groaned wordlessly.

"Please, Jude, you can't tell him you know. He'll kill me."

"I can't pretend otherwise!"

"You'll have to," Taylor informed him. "Swear to me?"

"I _can't_."

"Jude Adams-Foster, swear to me!" Taylor insisted. "Find another, roundabout way to bring it up. Just don't tell him I betrayed his trust!"

"I will on the condition that if you find anything else out, you tell me immediately. No more of this guessing stuff."

"Deal," Taylor agreed, and they shook on it.

(-.-)

"He's terrified out of his mind." Taylor met up with Connor in the school parking lot, cornering him against her car. "Like, _terrified._ "

Connor frowned. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. This was supposed to be fun. He knew that Jude would take it seriously (what would be the point if he _didn't_?) and Connor had been expecting Jude to freak out. But if his boyfriend was taking it really badly, then he needed to cut his plan off, immediately.

"Do you think there's a way to not make him so upset? Or should we just end it?"

"I'll tell you if we need to end it," Taylor said. "I don't know if we're at that point, yet. But we still have a lot of time before prom. Let's just slow down, okay?"

"Yes! Absolutely." Connor nodded. "What's he want you to do now?"

"Just get more information out of you."

"Tell him I'm not saying anything else," Connor instructed Taylor. "If he asks a specific question, we'll deal with it then."

"Good. So, nothing new for this week?"

Connor shook his head. "No. It would be too much. Although, I know what we're doing next week."

Taylor grinned. "Which is?"

"Usually baseball is Wednesdays after school, right?"

Taylor nodded. "Sure."

"Well, Coach's wife is having surgery next Wednesday, so our practice was moved to Thursday … but I'm not telling Jude that. He's going to think I'm at practice."

"Mmmkay. Where are you actually going to be?"

"At the mall, where you will just so happen to invite him, and at around four, you're going to want a pretzel, because the pretzel stall is right outside the jewellery store."

Taylor nodded. "We can definitely work with that."

"Oh!" Connor added, "Just tell him you're hanging out after school, though. Don't tell him where you're going."

"What difference would that make?"

"If you tell him you're going to the mall, he'll tell me you're going to the mall, and he might smell a rat."

"You've definitely thought this thing out," Taylor commented, entirely impressed. "Although, if I might say, he's a little too worried over the proposal thing to smell any kind of rat."

"Don't underestimate him," Connor said. "Sometimes he's too perceptive for his own good."

Taylor laughed. "All right. See you tomorrow, Connor."

"See you tomorrow."

Connor left Taylor behind and went to his own car. For a moment, Connor doubted his plan. He didn't want to make Jude too stressed out. Finally, he decided that he and Taylor would both be able to tell if Jude got too close to his breaking point, and that Connor would evaluate him tomorrow when he saw Jude in person, just to be sure that was doing okay.

(-.-)

Connor was standing against one of the trees outside the school, waiting for Jude to show up. Apparently, his alarm hadn't gone off this morning and he was making both himself and Lena late. Connor was getting a bit impatient to see Jude – he always looked forward to the few minutes they spent together before the first bell went – when Taylor walked up to him.

"I don't have anything else to say about the plan," he said.

"Great," she replied. "But we're also friends, so we can talk about things that aren't the plan."

"Sorry," Connor apologized, laughing. "I guess I'm a little wrapped up in it."

"That's okay. I think it's cute that you're going this far for him, even if you are being a little mean about it." Taylor sighed. "It might be dumb of me to say, but I'm a little disappointed that I'm not going to get asked in a big gesture way."

"You don't know that," Connor said. "Someone out there could be planning something great."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "The two guys I'm closest to are you and Jude. I'd say I'm just a little bit out of luck when it comes to being asked to prom."

"What about Tony?" Connor asked, teasing her with the name.

"Quiet!" Taylor gasped and her cheeks coloured. "Um, I … Why would you bring up his name?"

"You tell me."

"I _don't_ like him," Taylor snapped.

"Don't like who?" Jude asked, walking up to his boyfriend and friend. He frowned, feeling like he had been interrupting a lot of their conversations lately.

"No one!" Taylor cried. "Really!" she added as Connor sent her a doubtful look.

"Another secret?" Jude complained, feeling the pout come over his face.

"Who's keeping secrets from you?" Connor asked him, and Jude's pout deepened into full-fledged frown. He was half-glaring at Connor. "What's with the look?"

"There's no look," Jude added, and he knew he sounded sulky. He stared at Connor's face. There was no way that Connor was going to do what Taylor said; _none_. Jude just couldn't let him, because if Connor did … if Connor … Jude forced the word out. If Connor _proposed_ then it would ruin everything, and Jude would lose the one person that he always wanted to keep. Upset, Jude fell against Connor, wrapping his arms tightly around Connor's waist, hiding his face against his boyfriend's collarbone.

"Hey, are you okay?" Connor asked, holding Jude in return. "Is something wrong?"

"Don't talk to me," Jude ordered. He just wanted to stay like this and not think about the future or anything that wasn't Connor's embrace.

"Oh. Okay?" Connor looked over the top of Jude's brown hair to meet Taylor's eyes. Silently, he mouthed, "What do I do?"

"Nothing," Taylor returned, voice equally non-existent. "Not yet."

Connor nodded, and then aloud, he said, "Why don't you just ask someone to prom?"

"I'm holding out for someone asking me. It's not that I'm above asking someone myself," Taylor maintained, "and if I don't have a date in a week, I will. I'd just like someone to ask me."

"Any idea who you'd ask?"

"I am _not_ interested in Tony," Taylor ground out, although she could tell by the look on Connor's face that he didn't believe her. "If I ask someone, it'll probably be Michael. Ever since Daria and Robby started going out, he and I have talked a lot. I'd rather go with someone I know I'd have fun with than someone that I don't really know."

"Sounds smart."

"Anyway, I have time to figure it out." She smiled at Connor. "I'll see you later, okay? Bye, Jude."

"Bye," Jude mumbled into Connor's shirt.

"See you, Taylor," Connor said. Once she was gone, he poked Jude in the shoulder blade. "Are we talking yet or are you just going to stay there?"

"I'm just going to stay here," Jude answered.

"Did I do something wrong?"

 _How could he sound so normal?_ Jude thought. _Does he really have no idea?_ But Taylor wouldn't lie to him about something like this – he knew that she wouldn't. He wanted to believe that she had been wrong about Connor's intentions, especially since Jude was sure that if Connor was planning something so life-changing it would be obvious, but some part of him was sure. And that part of him was destroyed, because this was all going to end.

"Jude?"

Jude shook his head. He felt Connor's hold become tighter and Connor rested his head on the top of Jude's.

"I'm sorry you're upset."

They were still for a moment, and then Jude whispered, "Connor?"

"Yeah?"

"I … I like us just the way we are. I don't want anything to change." He wanted to say something more blatant, but he wouldn't betray Taylor. After all, if it weren't for Taylor, he would be completely blindsided when it came time for Connor to do his asking. Jude owed her. "Do you understand?"

"I like us too, Jude. Don't worry. Things aren't going to change." Connor's kissed Jude's hair, unable to keep himself from smiling. "I understand completely."

Jude relaxed, feeling a lot better. There was no proposal. There couldn't be.

(-.-)

" _So_ ," Taylor said, bounding up to Jude and Connor several days later, "I have a proposition for the two of you."

"No three-ways," Jude said without thinking, and then what he said hit him. He pulled his head from the inside of his locker to glare at Connor. "You're rubbing off on me!"

"Ew! Gross! Think about word choice!" Taylor yipped.

" _Taylor!"_ Jude and Connor chorused together.

"Kinky imagery aside," Taylor said slowly, "I do have something to ask the two of you."

"What is it?" Connor asked her, although he already knew.

"Anybody want to hang out after school today?"

"Connor can't. He has baseball on Wednesdays." Jude answered. "But I can."

"We can have a fun date, just the two of us," Taylor joked.

"More fun than I have with Connor anyway," Jude teased his boyfriend, and Connor swatted at his bicep. Jude smiled at the gesture, feeling relieved that, after the weird few days of last week, everything seemed to be normal again. Taylor even said that Connor hadn't mentioned proposing again, even though she had tried to wheedle details out of him. Jude was sure that, with his only slightly subtle hint, he had persuaded Connor out of asking at all. "Where do you want to go?"

Taylor shrugged. "We have all day to think about it. Meet me out by my car at the final bell, okay?"

"Okay!" Jude agreed, and she flounced off again.

"So, Taylor's more fun than I am?" Connor demanded playfully.

"Absolutely," Jude taunted, and he grabbed Connor's hand. "Come on, we have a class to get to."

(-.-)

"Are you hungry?" Taylor asked Jude.

They were wandering around the mall, not buying anything but, instead, just window shopping. They were in a hat shop now, Taylor wearing a ball cap backward while she placed different fedoras on Jude's head.

"Not really."

"But I want a pretzel," Taylor said, pulling hers and Jude's hats off and returned them to their places. "Will you accompany me on my quest?"

"What else am I here for?" Jude asked, chuckling.

"I need you opinion on something," Taylor chattered as they headed for the escalator. The pretzel stall was on the bottom level of the mall. "Daria wants me to ask Michael to prom, because he's Robby's best friend."

"I thought you wanted to ask Michael to prom. That 'having fun' thing?"

"Going with Michael would be fun. I would like it. _But,_ Tony and I were talking in history yesterday and I kind of got the feeling that there could be a real possibility that he would say yes if I asked. I know he doesn't have a date." Taylor sighed. "You're lucky you don't have to worry about a prom date."

Jude agreed. Although if he didn't have Connor, he couldn't imagine someone else he would go to prom with. "It does make things easier."

They stopped at the pretzel stand and Taylor ordered. When she had her treat, they took seats on a bench right by the stall.

"Do you think I should take a chance on Tony or just ask Michael?"

"You like Tony –"

"I do _not_!"

"Even if you keep saying that," Jude added.

"Whatever," Taylor grumbled.

"I think you should take your chances. It can't hurt."

"It can't," Taylor agreed, distractedly, realizing something. Jude was sitting on the wrong side of the bench. When he turned to talk to her, he faced away from the jewellery store – the very place where she could see Connor already lingering. "Hey!" she said, trying to fix it.

"Hey what?"

"Isn't Connor supposed to be a baseball practice?"

"Yeah, that's exactly where he is."

"But isn't that Connor?"

Jude turned at Taylor's point, feeling his heart plummet into his stomach. "No, no." Connor was walking out of a jewellery store. "Oh no."

"That's him, right?"

Jude nodded. There was no way that it was anyone else.

"I thought he dropped this plan!" Jude gasped, hiding his face in his hands as Connor walked away, blending into the crowd. Jude didn't even think about chasing after Connor to demand what his boyfriend was doing. He was too busy trying to process what he had just witnessed – although he was sure 'deny' would be a better word for what his brain was doing.

"Me too! He didn't say anything else when I asked!"

Jude shook his head. "There's another explanation. There has to be!"

Taylor shrugged. "We'll talk to him. We'll find it."

(-.-)

 **Taylor: Jude believes you bought a ring this afternoon**

 **Connor: Good. I need your help with something.**

 **Taylor: what else is new?**

 **Connor: When I ask him to prom I'm going to do it like I would if I were going to do a proposal. I got a ring box from the jewellery store today, and I need something to put in it, but I don't know what.**

 **Taylor: Boutonnieres are associated with prom**

 **Connor: they're big. And Jude would probably kill me if I bought him any sort of flower.**

 **Taylor: ookkaayyy**

 **Taylor: let's do a throwback!**

 **Connor: you've lost me**

 **Taylor: Remember in 7** **th** **grade how Jude asked you to the semi-formal?**

 **Connor: the letters in my locker? Yeah. Why do you think I'm doing this? This is my revenge**

 **Taylor: Wooooow. There's nothing else I can say to that.**

 **Taylor: Wait? You've been planning revenge for five years?**

 **Connor: Yup. And I've already taken my revenge out on you too**

 **Taylor: What do you mean?**

 **Connor: I might have told Tony you and prom were a good idea.**

 **Taylor: I'm killing you tomorrow.**

 **Connor: fine but you'll have to go through Jude**

 **Taylor: he thinks you're proposing. he's currently on my side, not yours.**

 **Connor: point taken. the throwback thing?**

 **Taylor: We cut out small letters saying 'be my prom date?' and stick them in the ring box**

 **Connor: you're brilliant!**

 **Taylor: I know. I don't know why you and Jude must doubt be**

 **Taylor: also, just because you flatter me doesn't mean that I'm not murdering you**

 **Connor: that's fair.**

(-.-)

Connor knocked on Lena's office door as the recess bell rang, hoping that she would there. Luck was on his side, and Lena gestured him in.

"This is a surprise!" Lena said, smiling at him. "What can I do for you?"

Connor took the seat on the couch next to Lena. "I need to explain something to you, before Jude does, because he doesn't know all of the facts."

Lena immediately looked concerned. "That doesn't sound good!"

"Oh, no! It is … He just doesn't know that it is yet."

"Why don't you just tell me?" Lena suggested.

Connor glanced at her. "What Jude is going to tell you is that I'm going to propose to him soon."

"Oh, Connor!" Lena cried. "You know that Stef and I think the world of you and that we think you and Jude have a great relationship, but, honey, you're both only eighteen, just leaving high school. It's a big world out there and –"

Feeling rude, Connor held up his hand to stop her. "I'm not going to. I mean, I love Jude, but we have to figure out our own lives before we even think about something so serious. And if I were actually going to ask, I'd make sure that it was something we talked about, instead of just springing it on him."

"Oh," Lena sighed, one hand going over her heart and the other resting against Connor's forearm. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that!" She chuckled, and Connor laughed along with her.

"See, that's why I wanted to talk to you. I know that he'll eventually turn to you two and I didn't want you to think the same thing that he does," Connor explained.

"So, if it's not _that_ ," Lena said carefully, avoiding the word 'proposal' because it was too hard to think of that word in conjunction with Jude and Connor, "what's going on?"

"I'm just asking him to prom," Connor revealed. "I just wanted to trick him a little beforehand."

"That's a big trick," Lena observed.

"I know. But I do it out of love," Connor said, smiling.

"Which is why I'll let it continue," Lena admitted. "I know you wouldn't hurt him."

"So, you'll keep my secret?" Connor clarified.

"I will. Although, I would like to be kept in the loop," Lena requested.

"Of course!" Connor agreed. "Will you tell Stef?"

Lena nodded. "Don't worry, we'll back you up."

"Thanks." Connor stood up to go.

"Goodbye, Connor. Have a great rest of your day."

"You too!" Connor called over his shoulder. He opened Lena's office door and repeated, "Thanks, again. It means a lot to me."

"Anything you need help with, just ask," Lena responded.

Connor smiled at her and then left her office, only to walk straight into Jude.

"Were you just talking to my mom?" Jude demanded, going pale.

"Uh, yeah," Connor said. He hadn't even planned for Jude to see him leaving Lena's office, but it might help his case that Jude had. Jude probably thought that he'd been seeking permission or something equally traditional. "Why?"

"About what?" Jude craned to see over Connor's shoulders, trying to judge Lena's face. Surely, if Connor had brought the subject of marriage up to her, she would have lectured him on why it was such a bad idea. His mother looked calm, though, as if nothing had interrupted her day. "Why would you need to talk to her without me?"

"Maybe there are some things that your delicate ears can't hear quite yet."

Jude became even whiter.

Connor pretended not to notice. "Where were you headed?"

"I was looking for you," Jude muttered, still staring at his mother, who took no notice of the scene happening outside of her door.

"You found me!" Connor grinned, but Jude paid him no mind. He reached for his boyfriend's hand, but even as he threaded their fingers together, Jude didn't look at him. "Do you need to go talk to her and make sure that we were talking about nothing?"

"If it was nothing, then just tell me a topic."

"Fine. The topic was absolutely nothing," Connor assured him. "She was standing outside her office when I walked by and we just ended up talking. Do you need to be so suspicious?"

Jude glanced at the pockets of Connor's jeans, as if to reassure himself that there was no ring box lump, and then he wondered how he could check the pockets of Connor's jacket. "Yes, I need to be suspicious," he grumbled.

"Have you been fed today?" Connor teased him. "You tend to get cranky when you don't eat."

"No, but –"

"But that's got nothing to do with it." Connor finished the sentence for his boyfriend, and then he shook his head. "It's probably got everything to do with it. Let's feed you."

With one more glance at Lena, Jude let Connor lead him away.

(-.-)

Jude was sitting on one of the benches outside of school, flipping absently through a novel. He was waiting for Lena to be done with some paperwork so the two of them could head home together. Connor had already left – after apologizing several times that he couldn't wait with Jude, but he'd promised Adam that he would help repaint the garage this afternoon – so Jude was all alone. Or, _was_ , until Taylor seemed to fly out of nowhere. She dropped onto the bench, so absently that she ended up sitting on Jude's outstretched legs.

"Tony asked me to prom!" she squealed, drumming her hands on Jude's knees in her excitement. " _He_ asked _me_. I was going to kill Connor, but now I'm going to have to thank him!" She only sounded slightly annoyed at the fact that she would no longer have to commit murder.

"I'm happy for you," Jude said, lowering his book. "You wanted to go with him."

"I really did!" Taylor sighed. "Ugh, I'm so excited!"

Jude grinned at her happiness. "I'm excited for you!"

"And I heard Michael is going to ask Maddie sometime this weekend anyway, so that would have totally backfired on both of us."

"At least it worked out."

Taylor nodded. "So, how was today for you? I don't think I saw you at all."

"You didn't," Jude reflected. He let out a long breath. "Taylor, I don't want to be repetitive or annoying, but –"

"Connor, proposing. What's the deal with that so far? Has he even hinted at it?"

Jude shook his head. "But I saw him talking to Mom this morning and I'm so worried. I need to figure out when."

"He wouldn't just pick a random day," Taylor said, trying to look like she was puzzling it out, although she knew that Jude only had five days of agony left, "but your anniversary isn't this month."

"Are we sure he's doing it this month?"

"Ninety-nine percent sure," Taylor replied. "What else is coming up?"

"Prom and graduation," Jude answered immediately. "You don't think it would be prom, do you? If it is, we can't go! We _can't._ I'm going to have to get measles or something by, like, tomorrow."

"Don't you think grad would be more likely?" Taylor asked.

Jude shook his head. "No. If he's going to do it, it's going to be prom … You _have_ to help me think of a way to get out of it!"

"Easy, tiger. Give me a day or two to talk to him before you go and do something you're going to regret." Taylor glared at the look on his face and offered her pinkie finger to him. "Swear to me you'll give me time?"

"You have tomorrow," Jude agreed and linked his finger around hers.

It was all he was willing to give.

(-.-)

Connor caught up to Jude in the hallway the next day during their lunch period. He and Taylor had talked earlier about how Jude was threatening to bail on prom, and he needed to do some damage control.

"I need to talk to you," Connor said as Jude kept walking.

Jude slowed down and looked at his boyfriend apprehensively.

"Let's go down to the beach," Connor suggested.

Jude didn't say a word as they made their way down to the sand, finding a place to sit that was away from their classmates. Jude pointed his face toward the warm sun and closed his eyes.

"We _really_ need to talk," Connor reminded him.

Jude felt fear enter him at the words. Was he wrong? Was it not prom? Would Connor actually do it at school? No, Jude didn't think so. He may not have been able to see the proposal coming right off the bat, but he knew Connor. When Connor had an idea in his head, he took it all the way. No, when Connor actually carried out his plan, it would be something elaborate.

"About what?"

"Things have been weird, lately. I think it's been both of us." Connor kicked at the sand. "I just feel like you've been hiding from me."

"What are you saying?" Jude asked.

"I'm saying that I want us to be like we were. I'm not sure what I did to change it, but something happened."

"It was …" Jude trailed off. "I'm scared of us changing. I guess I kind of screwed that up by being different. But we've got a lot of big changes in our relationship coming up in the fall when we go off to university. I don't want to have to deal with anything bigger than that," he added meaningfully.

"That's all?"

"That's all," Jude repeated. At least, it was until he could talk to Taylor, after she had talked to Connor. He wished that he could come right out and ask Connor about it, but not only had he promised Taylor, Jude was too afraid. He didn't want to have that particular conversation, because he was convinced that the conversation would be the end of him and Connor.

"Next Tuesday, you and I should do something, just the two of us. It feels like it's been a while since we've had a date like that."

Jude nodded. That could be good.

"Leave the planning up to me, okay?" Connor asked.

Jude nodded again. Connor's hand came up to cup Jude's cheek and Jude leant in toward his boyfriend, kissing him first. He and Connor shifted closer and closer to one another until there was nowhere to go but one another's laps. If they were squirreled away at home with all the privacy they could need, neither would have thought about it, but school was always a different story, particularly with Lena as vice-principal.

"Connor," Jude whispered when their lips parted, "I love you."

"I love you too," Connor answered, holding tightly onto Jude.

They stayed in their embrace until the bell went. Hand in hand, they headed back into the school building. Connor walked Jude to his biology class, kissing him again at the door.

"Don't worry about anything," Connor said to Jude. "You know that I'd never hurt our relationship, right? I only want to make it better."

"I know," Jude said, although he immediately wondered if a ring was included in Connor's definition of 'better'.

"And don't worry about Tuesday, either." Connor winked at Jude. "It'll be a night you'll never forget."

More worried than he had been in the past few weeks, Jude stumbled into his classroom. He dropped into his seat next to Taylor, completely ignoring the teacher to say, "He's not doing it at prom."

"You talked to him about it?" Taylor asked, genuinely surprised.

Jude shook his head. "No. We didn't talk about _it_ explicitly, but he's going to do it Tuesday. He's setting up a date for just the two of us and he said it'll be a night I'll never forget –"

"Stop hyperventilating!" Taylor hissed. "Don't pass out on me!"

Jude sucked in a deep breath. "Taylor, what do I do?"

"I don't know, Jude. Just see where Tuesday takes you?" Taylor suggested.

Jude groaned. Tuesday was going to take him to his grave.

(-.-)

Connor picked up his phone and texted Jude, who had been avoiding him since Friday. Over the weekend, he hadn't answered any of Connor's calls or texts. Yesterday and today at school, Jude had made sure that he always had another person with him; that he and Connor were never left alone, and he had barely spoken directly to Connor during those times – he certainly hadn't shown any physical affection. But now, it was Tuesday night at almost seven o'clock – the promised time for their date.

 **Connor: I'm leaving Dad's in a minute to come get you. Are you ready?**

He was half-worried Jude wouldn't reply, but finally the answer came: **As I'll ever be.**

Connor smiled. As stressed as Jude had been, it had been fun to watch his boyfriend squirm. Connor was glad that it would be all over by tonight, however. To keep it up any longer would have been too much for him, Taylor, and Jude. Plus, he was anxious to see the look on Jude's face, as he had no idea how his boyfriend would react.

He took one last look around the living room at his father's house. Adam was on a business trip until Thursday. While Connor had promised he and Jude wouldn't be alone in the empty home, what Adam didn't know couldn't hurt him. Connor had cleaned the living room, because this was where the fake proposal scene was going to happen. He nudged the coffee table a little further out of the way to give him more space to kneel, and then he pulled the green ring box out of his pocket, opening it to make sure that the letters were still in place. They had been hard to cut out, since they had to be small to fit in the confines of the ring box. They hadn't moved, mostly because Taylor had been very liberal with the superglue when they were putting the letters in place. Connor snapped the box shut once more and slid it into his pants pocket. There was no guarantee that Jude would notice the shape of the box in his jeans, but Connor had a feeling that Jude had been searching for it on Connor's person whenever he'd seen him, so he was hoping Jude would see it.

He grabbed his car keys from the hook by the front door and left the house, heading straight for his car, and then onto Jude's house. It was only a short drive to the Adams-Foster home, and Connor honked the horn once he was parked outside. The front door opened immediately, as if Jude had been lingering there waiting – which he probably was. As Jude walked to the car, Connor spotted Stef and Lena standing in the living room window. Lena gave him a thumbs up, and Connor waved back.

Jude got into the car and then he slammed the door.

"You don't have to be with me if you don't want to," Connor said.

"I want to be with you!" Jude exclaimed immediately.

"I didn't mean break-up," Connor said carefully, realizing how his words must have sounded. "I just mean, you've been avoiding me. If you don't want to go on this date night, you don't have to."

"No," Jude said, although he didn't sound excited, he sounded resigned. "Let's go."

Connor reached his hand out for Jude's, and Jude slid their fingers together, holding tightly onto Connor. Jude had noticed the little square shape on Connor's thigh; he knew, without a doubt, that it was a ring box. If Connor was going to insist on proposing, then this could be their last few minutes to be _them_ , before everything was ruined. Jude stared at Connor's face as they drove, not caring about the destination; just caring about the boy that he was with. He was surprised when they pulled into Connor's driveway. Jude hadn't been sure what to expect, but he thought that it might be something a bit bigger than Connor's house.

"Where's your dad?" Jude asked as Connor shut off the car. He and Adam had come a long way since Jude's and Connor's relationship had begun. It had come so far along, in fact, that Jude would now confidently call them friends. He and Adam weren't as close as Connor was with Jude's parents, but Adam wasn't exactly the cuddly, sharing type that Stef and Lena tended to be either.

"He left yesterday, quick business trip. Didn't I tell you?"

Connor very well could have, Jude acknowledged. He might have just missed it. He'd been focused on stressing out about something else.

"Let's go in," Connor said, exiting the car.

Apprehensively, Jude let himself out of the vehicle and followed Connor up to his front door. As they walked into the house, Jude was shocked to see that it looked exactly the same. For a moment, he doubted himself. This was _not_ how Connor would act if he were going to do what Jude thought he was going to; Jude was confident in this, at least. Jude walked into the living room, where they spent most of their time when they were at Adam's. He stood in the centre of the room, trying to figure out if there was something off about the room. He heard Connor walk up behind him.

"Jude, I need to confess something to you."

Jude turned around to face his boyfriend. "What?"

"I know why you've been weird the past little while. I talked to Taylor, and I know she told you … things."

Jude's eyes widened as Connor stepped toward him. He wanted to say something, but he had no idea what, and he didn't think he could figure out how to open his mouth even if he tried. Connor reached out and ran his hands down the length of Jude's arms.

"You know I love you, right?"

Jude nodded mutely. He loved Connor too. Oh, how he loved Connor.

"You're my boyfriend and my best friend, and I want you in my life for a very long time. And I've got something really important to say, well, ask, really …" Connor let go of Jude to reach into his pocket, pulling out the green ring box. He knelt down on one knee, trying desperately not to laugh at the look of complete horror on Jude's face. He opened the ring box.

Jude brought his hands up to his face, completely covering his eyes so he wouldn't have to see whatever was contained in that little box – although he knew very well what kind of jewellery it would be. When Connor didn't say anything else, Jude's curiousity got the better of him, and he peeked through his fingers. His eyes zeroed in on the box, and his heart stopped when he didn't see a ring, but instead, words.

 _Be my prom date?_ The little paper letters spelled out.

Torn between laughing and crying, Jude dropped to his knees in relief. Finally, his body decided on laughing, and a guffaw erupted from his lips. Dropping his hands away from his face, Jude reached out and shoved Connor. "I hate you!"

Connor was losing it at Jude's expression and he barely had time to catch himself as Jude's push tipped him over backward.

"I hate you!" Jude repeated, the words distorted by his giggles. He reached out to shove Connor again, but this time Connor caught his wrists and pulled Jude down on top of him, his boyfriend settling himself onto Connor's knee.

"Does that mean you'll go to prom with me?" Connor asked.

"No! Because I _hate_ you!"

"If you hated me, you wouldn't be smiling like that!"

"How could you do this to me?" Jude demanded, still half in hysterics. "I've been out of my mind for weeks!"

"And it's all been hilarious!" Connor assured him. "I've been laughing this entire time!"

Jude shook his head and then he wrapped his arms around Connor shoulders. "I was preparing myself to break up! I could strangle you right now!"

"But you won't," Connor replied confidently. "I know you won't."

"You're never allowed to do anything like this again," Jude informed him, burying his head against Connor's neck. "Or I _will_ strangle you."

"Luckily for you, prom only happens once."

"And Taylor was in on this?" Jude clarified. "I'm going to have to get her back."

"Your moms were in on this too," Connor added.

"I can't believe you did this," Jude said, shaking his head. Now that the shock of what occurred was wearing off, he really couldn't believe that Connor had done this.

"Aren't you proud of me?"

"I'm something," Jude groused, straightening up to look at Connor.

"Why don't you just say 'yes, Connor, I'll go to prom with you' and then kiss me?"

"Yes, Connor, I'll go to prom with you," Jude repeated, and then he pressed his lips to Connor's.

It felt like the sweetest kiss they'd had in a long time and Jude found himself leaning further and further into Connor, wanting more than his boyfriend was giving him, but from the way Connor was holding onto him, Jude had a feeling they were on the same page. And it was a beautiful thing to know – after so long of worrying that he and Connor had completely lost touch with each other and what they wanted from their relationship – that he and Connor were once again of one mind.

"Want to go up to your room?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Connor replied.

Jude jumped off Connor's lap, only to offer his hand to help his boyfriend up. Keeping a hold of one another, they laughed their way down the hallway, both happy, secure, and in love.

(-.-)

"There's a group of us renting a hotel room," Connor reminded his father. "I'll be home tomorrow, sometime."

"I'm trusting that this is a group thing," Adam said, sternly. "I know I can't stop you from drinking tonight, either, but I'm also trusting that if you do, that car stays parked until you are completely sober."

"Absolutely," Connor confirmed. "I wouldn't be that stupid."

"Good." Adam took in his son. "When did you get to be old, Connor?"

"I'm eighteen," Connor said, laughing. "You're the one who's old, Dad."

Adam shook his head. "You know what I mean. When did you become a grown-up?"

It was so strange to see Connor standing before him, wearing a suit, ready to go off to prom. It was strange to stare at him and think of the little boy who seemed like he had existed so long ago, for whom high school graduation was so far away. It was also disconcerting to think of the young teenager, so at odds with his father over his identity and insecurities, and to look at the old teenager, now so comfortable in his own skin. _Although_ , Adam noted, staring at Connor's blue nails _¸ some things won't ever change._

Adam reached out and hugged Connor tightly. "You'll hear more of this at graduation, but I'm proud of you, Connor."

"Thanks, Dad," Connor said. "I'm proud of you too."

They separated and exchanged one more smile, before Adam gestured to the door. "You don't want to keep Jude waiting."

"Definitely not!" Connor grabbed his keys from the hook by the door. "Bye, Dad!"

"Bye!"

Connor got into his car, driving over to Jude's. He knew that Stef and Lena would likely bombard the two of them with cameras (despite the fact that official prom photos had been taken yesterday on the beach and there would be a photographer at the event tonight). Jude, while he understood that his mothers wanted to capture this moment, especially as he was the baby of the family, he had also told Connor to run a little bit behind schedule, so that they could make an escape after just a few photos. Connor pulled into the Adams-Foster driveway. Stef, Lena, and Jude were already gathered on the front porch. Stef had an actual camera in her hands, while Lena was taking cell phone pictures.

"He's here!" Lena sang. "Come on up, Connor."

Almost reluctantly, Connor exited the car to join the family on the porch.

"They're so cute," Stef said to Lena. "And they're matching."

He and Jude exchanged glances. They were both in black suits with black ties and, as per tradition, their fingernails had been painted the same shade of blue Jude had fallen in love with when he was thirteen. They went through a whirlwind of poses until, finally, Jude said, "Moms, we have to get going."

Lena sighed. "This is the last time we're going to see one of our babies off to prom."

Stef's face was equally nostalgic. "And he's not even a baby anymore."

Jude embraced his mothers. "I love you, Moms."

"We love you too, Jude," they said, and they each kissed a cheek.

"Have a good time," Lena said.

"But not too much fun tonight." Stef planted her hands on her hips. "I'm working later – we know what trouble high school kids get into on prom night."

"We'll be safe," Connor promised her.

"Call me if you need anything," Stef said.

"Or me," Lena added. "We'll come get you from anywhere."

"Bye, Moms!" Jude called as he and Connor went down to Connor's car.

"Bye!" they chorused.

He and Connor got into the car, locking hands over the console once Connor was safely on the road.

"Ready to dance?" Connor asked.

"Now that you know how to," Jude joked.

"My dancing wasn't that bad."

"You were the definition of 'white boy dancing'," Jude snorted. "It was embarrassing. It still is kind of embarrassing, actually."

"Quiet." Connor snickered, knocking Jude's hand against the console. He found a parking spot. "Remember where this is."

"Are you really going to forget where you parked?" Jude asked, climbing out of the passenger seat.

"Yes. You make me forget about everything but you."

Jude smiled as he felt Connor's arm encircle his waist, and he put his arm around Connor's lower back. Together, they followed the flow of their classmates into the dance area. The night's schedule was: dancing for an hour, and then there would be a sit-down dinner, and then the students and their dates would be shuffled back to the dance floor, where they would be allowed to remain until midnight. This year's prom was an enchanted forest theme, and there were mock trees _everywhere_.

"Props to the decorating committee," Connor said, nearly stepping one of the stone squirrels that was guarding the entryway. "They went all out."

Jude agreed. He glanced around the cavernous ballroom. He could see Taylor and Tony, already dancing. The songs switched as they entered, turning to something slower.

"Can we dance?" Jude asked.

"Already? I thought I was embarrassing," Connor joked.

"Even you can't mess up turning in slow circles," Jude argued, and tugged Connor forward.

They found an empty spot on the dance floor and Jude curled himself into Connor. He loved dancing with his boyfriend; even if it was just the awkward turning of a slow dance. He liked the feeling of holding Connor so sweetly. They had come a long way since their first slow dance; especially since now, none of their classmates would stop and stare when they were in each other's arms. They had been together for so long that they were no longer fodder for the gossip mill. Not that the gossip mill had ever been terribly harsh. Sure, people had said things as they were wont to do, but once Daria had stood up for the two of them (after she had trumpeted to the world that it was _not_ her fault that she and Connor had broken-up), everyone else had seemed to lay off, because if Daria, the girl who had been dumped for another boy, could be happy with the couple, no one else could find an excuse to be unhappy.

"I love you, Jude," Connor whispered, tightening his arms around Jude's waist.

"I love you too," Jude answered, resting his head against Connor's shoulder. And then, he thought of something. A smile spread over his face as he lifted his head back up, and asked, "Connor, are you happy?"

"Of course I am!" Connor assured him, smiling to as he remembered the same thing that Jude was. "Are you happy?"

"The happiest," Jude replied.

And even though it was technically against school rules, Jude pressed his lips to Connor's, feeling the moment when, in the middle of their embrace, Connor began to smile.

 **So, this chapter wasn't intentional either. It's unedited (although chapter 1 has been fixed up) and I'll probably double check it soon, I just wanted you guys to see it before I have to go MIA for the next day and a half!**

 **I don't own anything recognizable!**

 **~TLL~**

 ***Edited June 16** **th** **2015**


	3. Be My Forever Date Be My Permanent Date?

**Y'all remember that this was a one-shot, right?**

Taylor strutted out of the elevator, heading for the apartment at the end of the hall. She didn't bother to knock; instead, she threw open the door and yelled, "I am _here_!"

Not that she needed to announce herself, mind you. Ever since high school graduation, she, Jude, and Connor had a standing Tuesday night dinner date, something that the couple had hosted at their apartment since they had moved into it. She always arrived at the same time (because, despite her best efforts, she was predictable like that), ready to devour whatever delicious thing Jude or Connor had managed to conjure. As she kicked her sandals into the pile of shoes by the front door, Taylor reflected how life wasn't fair. She knew two great, good-looking guys, with degrees and jobs, who knew how to cook, whom she loved and who loved her back, and they were in love with each other. She wasn't bitter about it – Jude and Connor were too sweet together that she couldn't imagine them with anyone but each other – but she always got annoyed by their happiness when she was going through a dry-spell. She'd be fine once she got laid or fell in love; both seemed just as likely to happen.

"Kitchen!" Jude shouted back.

Taylor padded into the kitchen, where Jude was standing in front of the stove, stirring a pot. She crept to her side, peering at the concoction. "Is that the gravy I like?"

"Of course."

Unable to help herself, Taylor skimmed her finger over the top of the gravy and then licked it off her skin.

Jude frowned at her. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to stick your fingers in the food?"

"Mom's been telling me for all of my twenty-six years," Taylor said, "and she'll be saying it for the next twenty-six." She dipped her finger in the gravy again.

Jude shook his head at her, but he couldn't say anything. There never was anything to say to Taylor.

"Where's Connor?" Taylor asked.

"I, uh, sent him to the store for barbeque sauce."

Taylor stared at Jude, taking in his facial expression. "Do we need barbeque sauce?"

Jude shook his head. "Taylor, I need your help."

Taylor sighed and she jumped up on the kitchen counter. "Either of you saying those words never ends well for me, you know that?"

"Taylor –"

She held up her hand. "Do not give me the puppy eyes, Jude Adams-Foster. You let me take home all the leftovers tonight and I'll help you."

"Deal." Jude smiled. "I … I want to propose to Connor."

"It's about damn time. I mean you two have been together for, like, what? Thirteen years?"

"Yeah," Jude said, nodding. "But we've been talking about getting married recently and it's something that we both want. We're both ready for it."

"Unlike Connor's prom-posal," Taylor teased. "If you know what you're doing, I don't know what you need me for."

"You're always involved in these things," Jude reminded her. The oven timer went off and he pulled the chicken breasts out of the oven.

"Lucky me," Taylor groused. "Have you done anything but decide you're going to propose or …?"

"I have a ring," Jude said. "Although I've had the ring since before we started talking about it."

"And he hasn't found it yet?" Taylor asked.

"Connor can be unobservant," Jude said. "Besides, I've got it hidden really well. When we moved in here, Adam gave us a chair but it's the most uncomfortable thing in the world, so we both avoid it like the plague. I've got it hidden underneath the cushion."

Taylor made a face. "The brown chair? Yeah, I hate that thing. That's a really good spot."

"Thanks," Jude said, transferring the chicken onto a plate. He removed the potatoes from their burner and grabbed the masher. "Make yourself useful."

Taylor hopped off the counter and pulled the pot toward her. "The point of me coming over here for dinner is that I'm a useless freeloader for a night."

"As opposed to every other time we see you …?"

" _Shh_ ," Taylor said. "I am employed and not living in my mother's house, so compared to some people we graduated with, I am a success story."

"Everyone moves at a different pace," Jude said. "You can't really compare."

"Why do you always have to be so nice and diplomatic?" Taylor griped. "You need to become mean like the rest of us so you don't make me feel like a lousy human being all of the time."

"You're not a lousy human being."

Taylor heard the door of the apartment open as Connor came home, and she yelled to him, "Your boyfriend is useless!"

"I know," Jude and Connor said together.

Connor stepped into the kitchen, then, he placed the grocery bag on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning at Jude.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Jude scoffed. "You know I only keep you around because you're cute."

"I guess he's cute," Taylor teased, tilting her head to squint at Connor. "I mean, in the right light. Well, dim light … Totally darkness, maybe."

"Are you telling me you want to know what I look like in total darkness?" Connor said, winking at her.

Taylor pretended to gag.

Jude smiled as he pulled plates out of his cupboard. No matter how old they were, or how much time had passed, it was always nice to hang out with Taylor and not feel like they had to be grown-ups. That was the beauty of being friends since they were young teenagers; they could still act like young teenagers and get away with it.

"My innocence cannot take your dirty thoughts!" Taylor proclaimed with a dramatic gasp.

"Innocence?" Connor repeated. "Do you not remember your entire university career?"

"What happened on campus stays on campus!" Taylor retorted, and then, more under her breath, she added, "I remember _some_ things."

Jude finished dishing out their supper and handed a plate to Taylor and then a plate to Connor. "Go and sit before _my_ innocence can't take it."

Taylor snorted, while Connor wolfishly reminded him, "I _know_ you're not innocent."

Taylor was fake gagging again as they took their seats around Connor's and Jude's small dining room table. Jude sat at one end, Taylor at the other, while Connor sat in the middle between them. Small stories bounced around between them as they caught each other up on the last week of their lives. Taylor complained that there was a new intern at the law office she worked at, and that if she had to show him how to work the copier one more time, she was going to have to kill him.

"One of these days," Connor said, "you're actually going to commit murder."

"We're not going to be surprised," Jude agreed.

"And," Taylor said pointedly, gesturing between the two of them with her fork, "Neither of you are going to testify against me, right?"

"As long as you don't call us to help you hide the body, I don't see why we'd have to say anything," Connor mused.

"I wouldn't call amateurs to help me hide a body!" Taylor rolled her eyes, then added, "Besides, it's always one of you asking for my help, rather than the other way around. I'm like, your fairy godmother. With less magic and more alcohol."

"We're grateful for you, either way," Jude said, although he gave her a look, letting her know that he was nervous she was already close to spilling his secret.

Taylor ignored the meaningful gaze. He should have a little bit more faith in her than that. When it came to inconsequential facts, yes, she did tend to spill them everywhere, but when it came to big things, her lips were completely zipped. If Jude were proposing to Connor, then Connor would have no idea until Jude actually did it; her best friend could count on that.

"I know you are," Taylor replied. "So, Connor, how about dessert?"

Connor smiled at her comment, and then he looked at his boyfriend, his grin only growing. "So, Jude, how about dessert?"

Jude grumbled unintelligibly under his breath before he stood up and collected their dirty plates. "Do you want ice-cream on your pie?"

"Yes, please!" Taylor answered as Jude headed back to the kitchen.

"Heat mine up please!" Connor requested, watching his boyfriend walk away. Once Jude was bustling around the kitchen, Connor spun around to face Taylor, leaning into her personal space. Before Taylor even started to back away from him, Connor urgently whispered, "We only have a few minutes, so this needs to be quick."

Drawn in by his tone, Taylor found herself moving closer to Connor, a little bit worried. She had _never_ heard him sound like that in all of their years of being friends. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to propose to Jude soon."

" _What?!_ " Taylor exclaimed. He and Jude did _not_ just spring this on her on the same day.

"Shh," Connor ordered, turning his head and making sure Jude hadn't noticed anything. "Keep it down."

"I just –"

"Do you think it's bad idea?" Connor interrupted.

"No, of course not!" She thought that the two of them were doing this on purpose, just to torture her. Okay, not really. She knew that they would never make a joke out of marriage and getting engaged. She just couldn't believe that they had both come to this conclusion at the same time.

"I need you on my side as I plan," Connor said.

"Not like we haven't planned a proposal together before," Taylor reminded him, and Connor smiled at the memory.

"This one's more important," he said.

"And it'll work out just as well," Taylor assured him. "We both know he'll say yes."

If Connor managed to ask Jude before Jude asked Connor, that was.

"But you'll help?" Connor whispered.

Taylor nodded. "Of course."

These two were going to be the death of her. She just knew it.

(-.-)

"Well, hello, Mr. Stevens," Tylor said into her cell phone. She kicked her feet up onto her coffee table and sunk further into her couch. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a phone call?"

"I don't know Jude's ring size," Connor complained. "I just realized. How could I not know?!"

"I don't even know my own ring size. Don't worry, you're not a relationship failure," Taylor assured him. She reached for her TV remote and lowered the volume on her set. She shouldn't have been surprised that Connor was already calling, even though he'd only told her about his plans to propose to Jude yesterday.

"I need to find out, sooner rather than later." Connor let out his breath in a huff. "How do I find it out now without making him suspicious?"

"Want me to do it?" Taylor offered.

"Do you think you could? It needs to be subtle. I can't have him guessing –"

"I have already proven myself to you on this front. Don't work yourself up."

"Sorry," Connor apologized.

"What time does Jude get home from work tomorrow?"

"Five-thirty. Ish."

"What about you?"

"Usually about six."

"That won't work," Taylor mused. She wouldn't be able to make it over until six herself. "You should get home closer to seven tomorrow, at least."

"Why?"

"Because Jude and I are having an affair!" Taylor announced, exasperated. "Really, Connor? What were we _just_ talking about?"

"Oh! Sorry!" She heard Connor take a deep breath. "I'm just excited. I want to see his face when I propose, and then I want to call him my husband. He's the only person I've ever loved and he's the only person I'll ever love. Whether we get married or not, I know we'll always be together, but we both want to be married. I know I'm his and that he's mine, but married just means something more, you know?"

"Oh, barf, that was cute. Save it for the vows, okay? You'll get there. Now, give me time with Jude tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. I've got to go. Jude's getting out of the shower."

"Bye," Taylor said, and they hung up. She raised her TV volume again, saying to herself, "This is the last time I do anything like this for the two of them."

She picked her cell phone back up and typed a message to Jude: **Do you mind if I stop by after work tomorrow?**

 **Jude: No. Come over!**

 **Taylor: I'll see you around six.**

 **Jude: see you then**

She put her phone back down, grabbed her wine glass, and then stared at Jerry Springer's face, which was filling her TV screen.

"I should get a cat," Taylor decided, and then she finished off her wine.

(-.-)

As per usual, Taylor didn't knock when she entered Jude's and Connor's apartment. She kicked her shoes off and then she followed the sound of the TV into the living room.

"I could have been someone coming in here to rob you," she said to Jude, who was still sitting on the couch.

Jude waved his hand, showing how unconcerned he was. "If I locked the door, you'd be mad at me."

"That's true." Instead of sitting on the couch, Taylor took a seat on the arm of it, looking down at Jude. "Where's the boyfriend?"

"He had to stop over at Adam's for a little while. I think he's eating supper over there if you want to eat leftover meatloaf with me."

"That depends on who made the meatloaf. Was it you or Connor?"

"Connor," Jude replied quickly.

"Well then meatloaf sounds like a plan!" Taylor agreed enthusiastically, and then she gently rapped her knuckles on the top of his head. "I have to admit, Jude, that I came over here with an agenda."

"Which is?"

"I want to talk about this proposal thing." Taylor let one hand drift through her bob as she said, "I just want to know what your plan is right now and that sort of thing."

"That's why I told you about this. I know that I want to, but I don't know how to make it _perfect_. Every time I think that I've thought of something, I end up second-guessing myself and going 'yeah, but _this_ will be better' or wondering 'is it me that thinks it's perfect or him that thinks it's perfect?'. I need someone who knows both of us and who can see things from a completely outside perspective."

 _Yeah, outside_ , Taylor snorted in her head.

"Well," Taylor said, remembering her mission from Connor. "Let's start with the ring. Can I see it?"

"Sure," Jude agreed, and left the couch, heading for the uncomfortable brown chair. "It's exactly what you'd expect. Connor's not exactly the jewellery type, so I went for simple rather than elaborate."

As he pulled the chair cushion off and then dug for the ring box, Taylor asked, "So are you going to get an engagement ring too or just a wedding ring?"

Jude shrugged. "I don't even know if Connor will want to wear two rings. I think it'd feel clunky, personally. Whatever I get, I just know that I want it to match Connor's."

Ring box in hand, Jude returned to Taylor's side. He popped it open and Taylor looked at it critically. Jude was right: it was exactly what she expected. It was a simple gold band. Taylor reached for the ring and then thought better of it.

"Do you mind?"

Jude shook his head and Taylor lifted the ring out of its soft casing. For laughs, she tried it on her middle finger, but it hung loosely. She shook her head and then put the ring on her thumb, but it was too big for that finger as well.

"The boy has fat fingers," she chuckled.

Jude laughed. "Doesn't he though?" Jude lifted the ring from her hand and put it on his ring finger. "He's an entire ring size bigger than me."

"How'd you find out his ring size anyway?" Taylor inquired, wondering if Connor knew his own ring size. "Wouldn't asking have made him suspicious?"

"I'm smart enough that I didn't have to ask," Jude bragged. "I found the receipt for Connor's university graduation ring and it had his size on it."

"Very nice." Taylor tucked the ring back into its spot. "How soon do you want to give him this?"

Connor was proposing soon, Taylor knew. She wouldn't be shocked if, the day he got his hands on a ring for Jude, he also went down on one knee. But she was torn, because she saw the look on Jude's face when he was holding the ring meant for Connor. He wanted to ask his boyfriend to marry him so badly. Taylor bit on the inside of her lip. Might it be possible that she could orchestrate this so that they proposed to each other? No, it was probably impossible. Jude and Connor were so different that it just wasn't feasible to think that she could steer them both in the direction of the same kind of date, and, well, getting them propose to each other at the same time? That was _way_ out of her control. But, hell, she was going to try. If anyone could do it for the two of them, it was her.

"I don't know," Jude said. He stood and returned the ring to its hiding spot. "Soon, of course, but I don't know how soon. I want it to be perfect, Taylor. I don't want him to be disappointed."

"He won't be! Don't underestimate yourself, Jude. You know Connor better than anybody else. You're going to do this perfectly."

"Thanks, Taylor." Jude smiled at her. "I keep thinking that Connor's the type of person that, when he comes up with a plan, takes it all the way, and that I'm planning this _for_ him, so it should be _like_ him, right?"

"Not necessarily." Taylor slipped off the arm of the couch and onto the cushions, patting the seat next to her. Jude sat down obediently. "It's about both of you, right? So whatever you end up doing, you should be enjoy."

Jude nodded. "I guess, but for me, it's all about Connor. I'm going to be happy no matter what … Almost no matter what."

"He's _not_ going to say no," Taylor said quickly. "No universe exists where Connor Stevens would turn down your proposal."

"That wasn't what I was talking about, but thanks."

" _Oh_. What were you talking about?" Taylor had the grace to blush at the sarcasm in Jude's tone.

"I just hate the thought of public proposals," Jude admitted. "I don't want to make a big deal out of something that's strictly between Connor and me."

Taylor cleared her throat pointedly, but quickly moved on. "The bright side is, you're in control, so you don't have to do anything you don't want to!"

She kept the smile on her face, even as she thought that Jude wasn't in control as he thought he was. She wasn't trying to direct Jude's and Connor's marriage proposals – as Jude had said, that was between his boyfriend and him. _However_ , if she just so happened to hear both of their sides and create the perfect night for the two of them, who was she to deny them something great?

"I want to do it before his birthday."

"That's in a month, right?" Taylor guessed, trying to calculate in her head.

"Just over," Jude informed her.

"Why not do it on his birthday?"

"That's a terrible cliché," Jude retorted immediately.

"I agree. So, how about we get some meatloaf and discuss your future?"

Jude smiled at her. "Deal."

(-.-)

 **Taylor: Do you know your ring size?**

 **Connor: yeah, unlike SOME people**

 **Taylor: Whatever**

 **Connor: Why?**

 **Taylor: Because Jude's ring size is one below yours**

 **Connor: you're a miracle worker. How did you find out without making him suspicious?**

 **Taylor: I didn't even have to ask. I just had to find the right conversation topic**

 **Connor: You're probably a witch**

 **Taylor: definitely.**

 **Connor: I'm going to the mall after work tomorrow. You coming?**

 **Taylor: something tells me that wasn't really a question**

 **Connor: It wasn't. I'll pick you up from your apartment.**

 **Taylor: See you then.**

(-.-)

Taylor climbed in the passenger seat of Connor's car, dropping her purse heavily on the floor. She was still in the process of putting her seatbelt on when Connor left the parking lot of her apartment complex.

"We're in a hurry today," she commented as they joined the suppertime traffic.

"We're on a schedule," Connor explained. "I'm supposed to be at Stef's and Lena's for six-thirty for family dinner."

Taylor glanced at the dashboard clock. "We're cutting it close."

"It'll be quick." Connor turned on his signal light, turning into the mall's parking lot. "I already know what ring I'm getting Jude –"

"Then why –"

"The colour," Connor said, cutting her off. "Do you know how many different shades of gold there are?"

"No," Taylor admitted.

"Too many," Connor grumbled. He found a parking spot and pulled into it. They both exited the car and headed for the mall entrance.

"So, when are you planning to do this whole proposal thing?" Taylor asked.

"As soon as possible." Connor grinned at the thought of Jude being his fiancé instead of his boyfriend.

"Is that like a week? Two weeks? Month?" Taylor pressed, taking extra-long steps to keep up with Connor's stride. She wasn't short, dammit, he was tall.

"Why do you care so much?" Connor asked, eyeing her.

Taylor pursed her lips at him. "You brought me into this and then have the never to question why I care?"

"I don't want to risk him finding out before I ask! Excuse me for being paranoid."

"That's one word for it," Taylor agreed.

They made it into the jewellery store without further incident. As Connor gave his name to salesclerk, he sheepishly explained to Taylor that he'd called ahead.

"What gold do you think would look best?"

Taylor looked at the assortment of gold rings in front of her, mentally trying to picture the ring Jude had bought for Connor. He said he wanted them to match. "Yellow gold."

Connor's eyebrows raised. "Really?"

"Really," Taylor confirmed. "Do you not like it?"

Connor picked up the ring and studied it. "I like it a lot. It looks like a Jude colour too. And if we went for matching rings, it's one that I would wear."

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. How would she have explained herself if Connor hadn't liked the yellow gold ring?

"You'd know best," Taylor told him, beaming.

"That one," Connor said, ignoring her in favour of the salesclerk. "Yes, today."

Taylor roamed away from Connor as he sorted out payment and paperwork for the ring. She sauntered past the pretzel stall (could it have really been eight years ago that she and Jude had sat on that bench, watching Connor leave the very jewellery store he was standing in now?) and around the corner to the pet shop. She hadn't been kidding about the cat. In the window display there was a heap of kittens, all mulling about and picking on one another. She stood there watching a burly orange kitten pick on a smaller grey one until Connor came to get her.

"Ready?"

Connor bounced a ring box in his palm. "And this time, it's not empty."

"The last one wasn't empty either. It just had 'be my prom date?' in it instead of a ring."

"Maybe," Connor said, holding the mall door open for her, "I should do something like that again."

"Something like what? Put letters in the ring box? Um, isn't the point that this time, there's a _ring_ in there?"

"Now who's lagging behind?" Connor teased. "I mean ask in a way like that. I used 'be my prom date?' because of Jude's 'be my dance date' in seventh grade. Maybe there's a way to still use that phrase."

Taylor tucked one leg underneath of her on the car seat. "Is there something that would work for that?"

"I don't know. 'Be my wedding date' makes it sound like I'm asking him to someone else's wedding."

"That'd be a surprise," Taylor mused. "'Hey, Jude, come to a wedding with me. Oh, by the way, it's our wedding. Just say 'I do' and then kiss me when prompted. It's all fine'."

Connor chuckled. "I don't think he'd go along with that."

"Probably not. Besides, you don't want him to just be your date to the wedding. You want him as a date for everything afterward too."

"Hmm." Connor pondered things as he drove Taylor back to her apartment. "'Be my life date' sounds awkward."

"There are prettier words to use. What about something from the vows?"

Connor's lips twisted. "The problem with that is I don't know if we're going to use traditional vows. _I_ don't want to. I'd rather write my own and I'm sure that Jude will too."

"I see your point. You two aren't exactly traditional – and, no, that wasn't a shot at the gay part of your relationship. How many people have been dating since they were thirteen and are still together? Man, if I could just pitch this to the right movie studio, I could make a killing."

Connor snorted. "Who the hell would care about two gay thirteen year old boys?"

"Me thinks that you would be surprised, Mr. Stevens." She didn't say anything as Connor pulled up in front of her apartment building, but before she jumped out of the car, she said, "Where are you planning on hiding that?"

"Oh, it's brilliant. You know that stupid rocking armchair thing in the living room? Point is, it's like sitting on a porcupine, so we just leave it alone. If I just stick it in the side or something, he'll never find it."

"You two are the same person," Taylor mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

Taylor forced a smile on her face. "I don't think that's a good idea. What if someone sat in it? What if he cleaned it? There _has_ to be a better place than that."

"You might have a point." Connor frowned. "But I was sort of counting on that spot."

"Um, um, um," Taylor said, mentally walking through Jude's and Connor's apartment. No matter what, she could not let that ring go into that brown chair. "Can't you put it in your sock drawer or something?"

That was weak and she knew it even before Connor shook his head.

"Jude's the one that usually ends up doing laundry. He'd find it in a heartbeat."

"Why not just leave it in the car?" Taylor asked. "Jude's got his own car. There's no reason for him to come poking around in here."

"It could work as a temporary spot, I guess," Connor grudgingly admitted.

"Good. Just, remember that the chair's a bad idea, okay?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Connor asked her.

"Fine. I'm just excited that two of my best friends are finally going to get engaged and I want everything to go perfectly for the two of them. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Connor rolled his eyes at her. "I'll talk to you soon."

"It's a plan."

With one more goodbye, Taylor left the car. She stood outside of her apartment building, watching Connor's black car drive away, and then she let out a hefty sigh. Jude and Connor were worth the effort. She headed into the building and, while in the elevator, pulled out her phone.

 **Taylor: Bitch we need a spa day soon**

 **Daria: Just name the time and place, mofo. There's never a bad time for a pedicure.**

Taylor grinned at the message. There was no one quite like Daria.

(-.-)

When Taylor woke up that Sunday, she had seventeen messages. Eight from Jude and nine from Connor. She almost turned her phone off and went back to sleep, but then the damn electronic vibrated again. Cursing under her breath, she looked at who had texted her. Connor. Of course. She read Jude's thread first.

 **Jude: It's not happening**

 **Jude: I'm not marrying him you can't make me.**

 **Jude: Tell me if he texts you**

 **Jude: He can apologize all he wants, I'm still going to be mad**

 **Jude: THIRTEEN YEARS I HAVE KNOWN HIM AND BEEN WITH HIM AND ONLY HIM AND HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO TELL ME THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE WITH MORE THAN ONE PERSON OTHERWISE THEY WON'T KNOW ITS THE RIGHT PERSON AND COULD END UP RUINING THEIR LIVES**

 **Jude: ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW CONNOR STEVENS**

 **Jude: Okay, but seriously, I have the right to be as mad as I am, don't I? Because he was an ASS about it**

Taylor had to reread his messages three times, every time the cursing in her head getting stronger. While she was sure that Jude probably had a good reason for being mad, as he wasn't the type to get mad for fun, she didn't know if he had a good enough reason to be as mad as he was. The tricky thing with Jude is that, when you did get him angry, he tended to take it all the way and remain angry. Before she replied to him, she checked Connor's messages.

 **Connor: I MESSED UP**

 **Connor: I said something really stupid even for me**

 **Connor: I wasn't thinking. We were just watching this stupid movie and it just came out**

 **Connor: I may have told Jude that people shouldn't just be with one person because there's no way to tell if that person is the right person without being with other people**

 **Connor: I didn't mean it the way he took it!**

 **Connor: Yelling is over … We've moved onto the silent treatment**

 **Connor: He's locked me out of the bedroom although we're vaguely talking**

 **Connor: Has he texted you? I am trying to fix this and he's not letting me**

 **Connor: He's not even listening!**

 **Connor: I don't want to be that twenty-six-year-old that acts like they're still in middle school with this, but I think that's where we are.**

Taylor climbed out of bed and went straight for her coffee pot. They'd apparently been fighting since ten a.m. If they hadn't made up in two hours, they could hold on another five minutes while her coffee brewed. She wasn't worried or anything. By the time she actually got around to answering their messages, they probably would have themselves sorted out and would be wondering why she was bothering to talk to them at all.

(-.-)

"You know that's not how I meant it," Connor said to his bedroom door.

"How do I know anything since I haven't heard it from several other people? How do I know that it's not going to ruin my life?" Jude demanded from the other side of the door.

"You're not ruining my life!" Connor shouted.

"How do you know there's no one better out there for you?"

"How could there be?" Connor asked, his voice so low that he didn't know if Jude had heard him. Because, really, how could there be anyone for him but Jude Adams-Foster: Jude, who was impossibly gentle but with a wit that could draw blood; who was quick to anger but hard to calm down; who was thoughtful and driven; who had filled Connor's every thought since the day they had met and who would remain there until the day Connor died.

Jude heard Connor's response and rested the back of his head against the cool wood of the door. It would be easy to convince himself that he was overreacting, but he really didn't think that he was, because Connor's comment had hurt him that much. Maybe Connor hadn't meant it the way that Jude was taking it, but the fact that Connor had said it made Jude ache, because it meant that Connor had thought about it. Jude wasn't a hypocrite. At times, he wondered what his life would have turned out like if he hadn't been with Connor for as long as he had, if he had met Connor later in life and had fallen in love before him, but at the end of the day, not once had he doubted his relationship with his boyfriend; not once had he seriously wanted anything beyond what he had.

He'd assumed Connor saw it the same way. But the way Connor had say what he had, in such a regretful tone, made Jude livid. It made Jude doubt their relationship, which was what he was upset with the most. Was Connor truly not as happy as he'd let on? Could he really wish that they had broken up, just to get with other people?

"Jude, please."

Connor began to turn the doorknob and Jude reached up to grab it, preventing his boyfriend from getting in. He knew that it was childish, but he wasn't ready to talk about it. If they talked about it now, with Jude as angry as it was, it was only going to get worse.

Connor let his hand fall away from the doorknob. It wouldn't do any good to push Jude around. "I love you."

"How do you know?"

Connor had been expecting that.

"How do you know I'm not ruining your life!?"

Connor had been expecting that too. He was still sorting out what to say next when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He checked the screen. Taylor; of course. He knew that he shouldn't have involved her, but she seemed to be the person that he turned to on the rare occasion that it couldn't be Jude he relied on. He looked at the message briefly.

 **Taylor: Um, do you not see how badly that could be taken? If I know the two of you, and I do, you're both equal parts to blame for this. You're smart enough to know that Jude just takes time. Baby his poor little dramatic heart. Text me again only if he turns into a total diva.**

Connor put his phone back in his pocket, not bothering to reply. Taylor hadn't told him anything new. It had been pointless to text her in the first place, but he couldn't help his kneejerk reaction. He knocked on the door.

"You can't ignore me forever."

Stubbornly, Jude thought that, yes, he could in fact ignore Connor forever. Although he didn't say it aloud, which both Jude and Connor took as a sign that the storm might be abating. Jude almost replied when he heard his phone vibrate against the floor. He picked it up, hoping that Connor hadn't heard it, otherwise his boyfriend might accuse him of just sitting there and playing on his phone instead of what Jude was actually doing: stewing on the events of the morning. He had a text from Taylor.

 **Taylor: Hi, this is your conscience speaking. Calm down and talk to him? Anyone can see that Connor loves you just as much as you love him. Speak to one another.**

 **Jude: Thanks conscience. But I don't want to talk if we're just going to end up fighting**

 **Taylor: At least it's communication. Just don't stab him.**

Jude ignored her attempt at humour. He just wasn't in the mood. He threw his phone onto his and Connor's messy bed, staring at the rumpled comforter and the sheets that were hanging off the side of the bed. He wanted to do this morning all over again; he wanted to be back in bed, wrapped around Connor, barely paying attention to the movie, until Connor had clued into the plot enough to say what he had. Jude ground his back teeth together, annoyed as he always was when he had to face the truth. He was overreacting.

He stood up from the floor and twisted the doorknob, opening it the slightest bit. He walked away from the door and over to the small window, looking at their third floor view. The door creaked as Connor opened it.

"Jude?"

"I'm upset over what you said."

"I know. I didn't mean it." Connor stared at the back of Jude's brunet head, wanting nothing more than to press a kiss to the side of it. "I really do think that some people need to meet a lot of people before they meet the person that they can spend the rest of their lives with, but that's not true for everybody. I didn't mean to make it sound like it was true for everybody."

Jude rested his forehead against the pane of glass. "Do you want to be with someone else?"

" _No_! I want _you_." He wanted Jude, now and forever. He could kiss every man in the world, give his heart to anyone who asked for it, and there would be no one in the world that would make him fall the way that Jude had.

Jude turned around, needing to see Connor's face. Connor often said more with his expressions than he did his words. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked, "Do you regret the fact that it's been me for thirteen years?"

Connor shook his head, thinking of the ring sequestered in his trunk. He wanted to spend the next hundred years with Jude, and he already knew that he wouldn't regret a single one of those days.

"I want more than thirteen."

Jude almost smiled. There was such sincerity, such love, on Connor's face, that he couldn't have doubted him even if he'd tried. For a moment, he thought of the ring, squirreled away in their living room, and for one crazy moment, he thought about throwing away any semblance of a plan he currently had and proposing right now, but he reined himself in. Right now wasn't perfect enough.

"I found the person I could spend the rest of my life with early and I was lucky enough to keep him. I'm not dumb enough to let you go, _ever_."

"You are lucky to have me," Jude agreed haughtily, but he saw the way Connor's lips twitched. He couldn't fool Connor; his boyfriend always knew when Jude had ceased to be angry.

He reached for Connor, who wouldn't ever turn him away.

"I'm sorry," Jude apologized. "I don't mean to be dramatic."

"You wouldn't be Jude if you weren't dramatic," Connor said, pressing his lips to Jude's forehead. "I'm sorry too. I love you, Jude."

"I love you too."

Jude let Connor pull him down onto the bed, and they disappeared beneath the rumpled comforter, creating even more of a mess than before.

(-.-)

"Cat," Taylor said. "I'm getting a cat."

"You are twenty-six. There's no point in starting your career as a crazy cat lady now," Daria advised.

Taylor tapped the screen of her phone to check her battery level and then plugged the device in. Leaving Daria on speaker, she resumed cutting up peppers for her spaghetti sauce. "One cat does not a crazy cat lady make."

"That's what they all say."

"Not all of us can find perfect husbands and churn out the white picket fence, the two-point-five kids, and the American dream before we're twenty-five."

"Warren is perfect," Daria agreed. "Although Madison and Izabela need to me a little bit more like their mother."

"If they're like you, they're going to be the same kind of teenagers you were."

"Oh … Oh, God. I take back everything that I just said."

Taylor laughed, stirring in the peppers and then trying the sauce. Almost perfect. She added a touch of garlic powder. There.

"Okay, Daria, I'm going to go eat dinner."

"See, if you had a cat, you'd have to share that."

"Um, one, cats don't eat spaghetti. Two, with the evil twins, you end up _wearing_ your dinner."

" _Whatever_. Okay, I'll say goodbye. See you in two weeks at the spa!"

"Bye, Daria."

"Bye, Taylor."

Taylor hung up her phone, dished up her dinner, and then carried it to her living room. Who cared if she ate her dinner in front of the TV? She was a grown woman and she made her own rules. She had just settled into the rousing story line of _'Did My Cousin Sleep With My Boyfriend?'_ when her phone started singing. Taylor darted back to the kitchen and answered it. She turned the speaker on as she plugged the phone into a socket in her living room, and then sat it on the edge of her coffee table, making sure that her hands would be free to eat with.

"Hey, Jude."

"I don't even _like_ that song."

"Duly noted," Taylor said, talking around her spaghetti noodles. "What's up? How are you and Connor? I didn't get any more texts so I'm assuming all went well."

"Yeah. It was stupid to even fight in the first place," Jude said softly.

"Probably, although the real question is: why are you calling me when you should still be in the glow of make-up sex?"

"I'm proposing to Connor on Saturday, so we need to plan now."

"All right. What are you thinking right now?"

"Part of me thinks that we should stick to one of our normal dates, you know? Just so that he doesn't think something is up, but another part of me doesn't want it to seem like a normal date, because it's _not_."

Taylor opened her mouth to reply when her phone buzzed. Quickly, she unlocked the screen and read her text.

 **Connor: I'm proposing to Jude on Friday**

 **Taylor: are you sure that's a good idea?**

Out of frustration at the two of them, she stabbed the end of her fork into her thigh and took a deep breath. To Jude, she said, "You already said no public proposals, so doing it at dinner is out."

"Obviously. I tossed around the idea of doing it in the apartment – making him breakfast in bed or doing another cute little set-up, but then I decided against that too."

"Why?"

 **Connor: Why wouldn't it be?**

 **Taylor: Just saying that doing it after he's been at work all day might not be the best course of action.**

"It's not big enough either."

 **Connor: Saturday? Saturday could work too.**

 **Taylor: I approve of Saturday.**

"Maybe we should focus on the place," Taylor suggested. "Where's a special place for the two of you?"

"We've always spent a lot of time at the beach," Jude mused. "If we went there at night then there wouldn't be a lot of people."

"So it wouldn't be public."

 **Connor: I decided what I'm going to say**

 **Taylor: What?**

 **Connor: Be my forever date?**

 **Taylor: That warms my cold, dead heart.**

"No. I like the beach. It's a good spot."

"We make a good team," Taylor said. The next week was going to have to be handled carefully.

 **Connor: I was thinking that I'd take him out for dinner and then go for a walk. He'd hate to be put on the spot in public, but I want to make sure he's in the best mood possible and that involves food**

 **Taylor: Smart**

"I'm just excited to finally ask."

"What are you going to say when you ask?" Taylor wondered.

 **Connor: You're not the only one with a brain around here**

 **Taylor: you wouldn't usually know it**

 **Connor: funny**

"I don't know," Jude admitted. "I thought I'd just go with the traditional 'will you marry me?'."

"Because you two are completely traditional, I know," Taylor said sarcastically. She froze, noodles in her mouth, as she realized she hadn't discussed being traditional with Jude. She'd talked with Connor about that.

Jude, however, took no notice and plowed ahead with whatever he was saying. "I have until Saturday to decide. Although, there was something that I wanted to ask you."

"Oh?"

"Feel free to say no," Jude warned her.

"Oh, no."

"One thing that I _really_ want is a picture of Connor's face when I ask, but _I_ can't take it, so …"

"So you want me to hide on the beach and take the picture?" Taylor guessed. "You owe me like, a month's worth of leftovers. And a cat."

"Um?"

"Also, you realize that you're going to need to make it to a specific spot, at a specific time, right?"

"I can manage it."

"I know you can," Taylor said supportively.

"Let's scout the beach on Wednesday," Jude suggested.

"I'll squeeze you into my incredibly crowded social calendar."

"Thanks."

"Bye for now!"

"Bye," Jude said, and they hung up the phone.

(-.-)

"No, here won't work," Taylor said sternly, walking down the beach.

"None of the places I've suggested work," Jude grumbled under his breath.

"There needs to be a good place for me to hide and there needs to be nothing around that could attract people at night." _And it needs to be near the restaurant Connor is taking you to._

"My lunch break is almost over," Jude complained. "We need to find a place."

"What about here?" Taylor said. The restaurant wasn't far enough away that it would be implausible for Jude and Connor to walk this far, but it wasn't so close that they would want to walk further. There was a nice little gathering of trees near the top of the beach that Taylor could hide in. "As long as you aren't too close to the water, I should be able to get a really good picture."

Jude took a few steps backward, setting one foot on a large, driftwood log. "Connor and I could sit here. Do you still think you could get a good shot?"

Taylor bolted into the trees and picked up her cell phone. While she would be using a good camera to take the actual picture (well, video, but Jude didn't have to know the specifics of that, yet. Taylor just didn't think that a picture would full capture the beauty of the two of them proposing to each other at the same time), her phone would be enough to give her an idea of what a camera could see. Jude sat down on the log and Taylor rustled around in the bushes.

"I can do it!" she announced, emerging from the leaves and picking a twig out of her hair. "Don't you worry, Jude, this thing is going to go down perfectly."

"Good."

Side by side, the turned around and headed back to where Taylor had parked her car. They had to move quickly, as she only had fifteen minutes to drop Jude off at his office and then return to her own. Once they were in the car, Jude turned the air conditioning on higher and cleared his throat.

"Do you think just asking him to marry me is too … commonplace?" Jude asked.

"Why mess with the classics?" Taylor asked, although Connor certainly was. "Or are you talking about making a big speech to him beforehand?"

"No, definitely not that. We don't spend our time being overly sappy, so I'm not going to start. He knows everything that I have to say and I want to save my best lines for our vows."

"What else did you have in mind?"

"I was …" Jude sighed, and Taylor glanced at him long enough to see that there was a touch of red on his cheeks. "I was actually thinking about seventh grade."

"Why would you put yourself through the pain of thinking about that?"

"I was thinking about when I asked Connor to the dance. Do you remember what I said?"

"'Be my dance date?'," Taylor quoted immediately. " _With_ a question mark, so that it would be fourteen, not thirteen."

Jude nodded. "And then Connor and prom –"

"Be my prom date?" Taylor quoted. "Yup, I cut those ones out too. Why? Are you thinking about incorporating letters into this proposal?"

"No. I don't think that it would fit."

Taylor agreed whole-heartedly.

"But maybe the way it was said could be used, you know?"

Oh, Taylor knew. She also knew that the two of them had clearly been together for far too long if they were starting to think like one another. Or maybe they just knew each other too well. Taylor admitted to herself that both ideas were sweet, and that she wanted something like it.

"Any thoughts?"

"What could fill in the blank?" Jude asked. "Be my blank date?"

"Well 'blank date' just sounds dirty."

"Head out of the gutter, Taylor. I want to be romantic."

Taylor gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. She wasn't going to say to Jude the way Connor was planning on asking – it would be too far. Despite the fact that, at this point, she knew more than both of them, she had to be very careful not to overstep her boundaries. Maybe there was a nice synonym that she could suggest that, while not the same thing that Connor was going to say, would complement what Connor was planning.

"Be my life date?" Taylor said, but like his boyfriend, Jude shot that one down.

"What about permanent?" Jude asked her, wanting to see what she thought about the word. "Be my permanent date?"

"I think that sounds really sweet," Taylor said, knowing from the look on Jude's face that _he_ thought it was perfect. She pulled up in front of Jude's office door. "I'll be in place by eight on Saturday, just in case you two are early."

"Thank you, Taylor. So much."

"You still owe me food and a cat," Taylor reminded him.

"Why do you want a cat?" Jude asked, opening his car door.

"Don't question me!" Taylor exclaimed, and then she pulled away, only having a few minutes to make it back to work.

(-.-)

Saturday evening, at eight o'clock, Taylor was in position. She had outdone herself, in her opinion. She had one camera set up on a tripod for the video while she had another camera in her hands, ready to take as many pictures as she possibly could. She looked down the beach and she saw Jude and Connor making their way along the sand. Her heart picked up speed with nerves, and then she wondered how her two friends were feeling. She felt her palms begin to sweat as they got closer, and then she turned on the video camera.

"Okay, Jude, okay Connor," she said to the camera. "Show time."

(-.-)

Jude tugged Connor out of the restaurant, breathing in the cooling night air.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked his boyfriend, soon to be his fiancé, although Connor didn't know about that part, quite yet.

"Sure," Connor agreed. He'd been about to say the same thing, because it was almost time for him to ask Jude to marry him.

Hand in hand, they walked to the beach. It was late enough that it wasn't terribly crowded, although Jude eyed the driftwood log in the distance, feeling relieved as it appeared deserted. He immediately began to worry again as he wondered if Taylor was where she had promised she would be. No, of course she was. Taylor wouldn't let him down, especially not now.

"What are you thinking about?" Connor asked Jude softly, seeing the faraway look in Jude's eyes.

Jude turned to look at him, and Connor thought that the smile he wore was one of the best things that Connor had ever seen. "I'm thinking about you."

"I'm glad to hear it." Connor stopped Jude and reached an arm around his waist, pulling him tightly to him. He pressed his kiss to Jude's lips, wondering if now was the time to go down on one knee and ask. The ring in his pocket had been growing heavier and heavier all night, and he just wanted to see it where it belonged: on Jude's finger. But, before he could get any further than that thought, Jude was tugging him along once more.

"I just want to walk a little bit," Jude explained. He kept his hand securely in Connor's, unable to keep from touching his thumb to the base of Connor's ring finger. This would be the last time that he would put his finger there and feel bare skin; from tonight onward, Jude would feel a ring instead.

Feeling as nervous as he did on his first real date with Jude, Connor kept looking to his boyfriend's face and breaking out in a grin.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Jude asked, catching Connor's eye. Could Connor know? Did he know what Jude was planning to do tonight? No, he couldn't. Jude had been so careful.

"Because I love you."

"I love you too." Without saying anything about it to Connor, Jude steered him onto the driftwood log. He tried to see into the trees, trying to figure out if Taylor was in there, but he could see nothing. He was sure that she was; didn't know what he would do if she wasn't. He wanted to be able to have the look on Connor's face when he asked immortalized in a picture.

"I thought we were walking," Connor teased. At the same time, he put his freehand into his jacket pocket. He had to ask within the next few minutes or he was going to explode with anticipation.

"I wanted to sit and talk to you about something."

Connor frowned. "Well, there's something that I really need to talk to you about too."

"What?" Jude whispered.

Connor shook his head. "You first."

Jude couldn't go first, and Connor read the reluctance on Jude's face easily.

"At the same time?" Connor offered.

Jude reached for the ring box, holding it in his palm, and then he slid his nail under the lip of the box, ready to flip it open. "At the same time," he repeated.

Jude nodded, although the idea worried him. Connor was definitely going to say something different than him, what would they end up focusing on? What would Connor say?

"Three," Connor said, beginning the countdown. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. This wasn't how he pictured this happening. He wanted to know what Jude had to say, but he didn't want it to detract from Jude saying 'yes' to his proposal.

"Two."

"One."

At Connor's count, ring boxes appeared and in sync, they blurted, "Be my forever date?" and "Be my permanent date?"

"What?" Connor managed, bewildered as he stared at the ring in Jude's hand, while his boyfriend dissolved into laughter. "What?"

"Yes," Jude said, smile fixed on his face as he reached for the ring in Connor's hand. It looked almost exactly like the one he'd gotten for Connor.

"Oh! _Yes!"_ Connor exclaimed, sliding the engagement ring he'd bought on Jude's finger, then he let Jude put an engagement ring on his own finger.

He leant toward Jude, kissing him deeply.

"I can't believe the two of us," Connor admitted, wrapping his arms around Jude. "I really can't."

"There's one more thing you're not going to believe," Jude mentioned, hugging Connor tightly and resting his head on Connor's shoulder.

"What's that?"

"Taylor's in the trees."

"Why is Taylor in the trees?" Connor sat up, away from Jude, and then he shook his head. _"Taylor!"_

The slight woman emerged from the trees, a camera in each hand, and a grin on her face. "Congratulations!"

"Was she helping you plan too?" Jude asked Connor, who nodded.

"It's not my fault you both asked for help!" Taylor insisted impishly. She continued on, not giving either of them a chance to reply. "I'll e-mail you the pictures and videos of this amazing little engagement when I get home. I'd just give you the cameras but I borrowed them from a co-worker and I don't trust you that much. Get back to your cuddling and don't forget that you owe me an orange cat."

"What's the deal with the cat?" Connor asked.

"I want what I want," Taylor said mysteriously. "Every good witch needs one. But we'll talk about that later. Enjoy the rest of your night." The last part was said suggestively, and she flounced away before either man could call her on it.

"I'm _definitely_ going to enjoy the rest of tonight," Jude said to Connor, before pulling him into a tight embrace.

(-.-)

"How did I do?" Adam asked, sitting back in his chair and studying his son's hands.

Connor lifted his newly blue nails up to his face and smiled. When he was thirteen and had newly come out to his father, he never would have imagined his father painting his nails for his wedding day or the fact that he would be marrying Jude, his first and only boyfriend, but Connor would never have it any other way.

"They're perfect, Dad."

Adam smiled, feeling as if his heart was going to burst with pride and love. This was his son, and while years ago, Adam hadn't been the best parent to Connor, now he wished that he could go and beat some sense into his past self. Connor had been a wonderful boy, and now he was a wonderful man. Adam firmly believed that there was no one better for Connor than Jude Adams-Foster.

"Come on, we should be ready to walk soon." Adam gestured for Connor to stand and then looked at Connor a little more crookedly. "Let me fix your tie. Your nails probably aren't dry."

Connor stood still as his father adjusted his tie. He wouldn't have had to get Adam to redo his nails at all if he hadn't accidently scraped some of the paint off while doing dishes at his father's house this morning. He was almost glad, though, that he had, because he liked Adam painting his nails; loved the feeling of acceptance that had washed over him when Adam had picked up the bottle without hesitation.

"All right, let's go."

(-.-)

Jude fidgeted nervously, catching Lena's eye as the tempo of the music changed once more. His mothers and him had walked down the aisle together first and had dropped him off with their minister. It was a relatively small wedding ceremony, but neither of them had wanted anything big. They had also decided against a wedding party, but now Jude felt lonely and bare, standing alone at the altar with only the minister. But only for another moment more, as Connor and Adam appeared, and Jude lost his heart to Connor Stevens all over again.

The world seemed to blur and stretch around Jude as Connor approached, as he reached out and held Connor's hand, even as the minister began to speak. He was only aware of the warmth of Connor's skin; of the loving expression on his fiancé's face. He felt his heart skip a beat as Connor turned toward him, saying the vows that he had written for Jude.

"You're my best friend, my boyfriend, my fiancé, and soon, my husband. We have been together for fourteen years, but that's nothing compared to the years that I want with you. When I first met you, I never thought that we would ever come this far, but now that we have, I'm spending my time looking forward to the time we'll have together. I will love you through our hard times and our easy times; I will love you through your happiness and your sadness and even your dramatic episodes."

A few chuckles emerged from the audience and Jude smiled sheepishly because, of course, Connor had to bring that fact up.

"I'm not sure of anything in this world," Connor finished, "except for you. I'm sure that I always want you by my side and I am sure that I'm in love with you, as I always will be."

Jude tightened his grip on Connor's hand. "Through these fourteen years, we've had ups and downs, and have faced our share of challenges and happiness, and through it all, I've never wanted anyone but you by my side. You are truly the person in this world that completes me; that makes me the most _me_. Your smile is what gets me through every day; your heart is what keeps mine beating. I go to sleep every night, excited to wake up to your face. I love you, Connor Stevens, and that love will only grow."

"By the power vested in me, I declare these two wed," the minister announced. "You may now kiss your husband."

Jude grabbed onto Connor's waist and his _husband_ pulled him close. Heart hammering in his chest, he kissed Connor until someone in the audience wolf-whistled, and he remembered that they had company. Connor didn't look the least bit embarrassed as they faced the crowd, while Jude lifted his hand, his blue nails perfectly painted, to readjust his tie.

Hand in hand, they walked back down the aisle.

(-.-)

"And for the first time, Mr. and Mr. Adams-Foster-Stevens."

Arms wrapped around each other's waists, Jude and Connor stepped into their reception hall to the clapping and hollering from their friends and family. They walked around, hugging and kissing people as demanded, until they reached Taylor, who they had saved for the very last.

"Congratulations," she said, hugging them both tightly.

"Come here," Connor said, taking her hand.

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked suspiciously, allowing them to lead her into the back room that they had just emerged from. "Don't you have a first dance coming up soon?"

"In a few minutes," Jude replied, "but first we have a debt that we never paid."

Wondering where this was going, Taylor couldn't help the squeal that emerged as Connor lifted a cat carrier onto the table. She leant forward, looking inside of the cage.

"We adopted him from the SPCA for you," Jude explained. "He's not a kitten, but you've said 'cat' this entire past year."

"He's adorable!" Taylor said, unlatching the cage to pull the large, orange beast into her arms. "He's perfect!"

"Every witch needs a cat, right?" Connor asked with a wink.

"Thank you," Taylor said. "Thank you so much. What's his name?"

Jude hesitated. "You aren't going to like it."

"Try me," Taylor dared.

"Flufferpuff," Connor said.

"You're kidding, right?" Taylor asked, staring at the cat's large yellow eyes. He didn't look like a Flufferpuff.

"Not in the least, but you can probably change it," Jude said.

"We'll talk about it," Taylor told the cat and then she eyed the two men in front of her. "And we have to talk about how, even though I love you two desperately, maybe it's time you grow up and start planning your own events from here on out, hmm?"

"What could we have left that we need your help with?" Jude asked laughing, while Connor said, "You would _hate_ it if we didn't involve your nosy help."

Taylor used Flufferpuff's paw to point at Jude. "You'll find something." She and Flufferpuff then pointed to Connor. "That is possibly, maybe, a little bit true. _Whatever_." Taylor let Flufferpuff pull his paw out of her hand and then she smiled at Jude and Connor. "Now, let's get back out there before you two are missed."

Herded by Taylor and her new pet, Jude and Connor returned to the main body of the hall just as the DJ announced their first dance. They moved to the centre of the dance floor, trying not to feel awkward, as they were the only ones out there. To Jude, it felt worse than their first slow dance, because this time he knew that all eyes in the room were on him and Connor.

"I love you," Connor whispered in Jude's ear.

"I love you too," Jude replied, and he ran one of his hands through the hair on the back of Connor's head. "Are you happy, Connor?"

"Of course I am!" Connor said to Jude. It was the happiest day of his life. "Are you happy?"

"The happiest," Jude assured him in return.

And, because he would be allowed to for the first of his life, Jude pressed his lips to Connor's, even when, in the middle of the kiss, Connor began to smile.

 **I don't own anything recognizable. This is the last chapter. I don't know how this ended up being three chapters (except for the fact that you beautiful readers inspire me!) but I'm happy with them, so hopefully you are too! This chapter has not been edited, but the previous two since have been.**

 **~TLL~**


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